Wallyford Primary School was last night given the much coveted Public Development of the Year title at the 2020 Scottish Property Awards. As more than 800 guests gathered from across Scotland at the property industry’s largest annual celebration of commercial and public property, Wallyford Primary was top of the class in the category recognising a development that has contributed to the improvement of a local community.
The £19m Wallyford Primary is one of the largest primary schools in Scotland, providing 28 classrooms and four nursery classes, offering up to 120 pre-school places, as well as resources for wider use by the community, including a new library. Officially opened by the Depute First Minister in April 2019, the school has been designed with the future in mind, built with expansion plans for projected increases in school rolls. Its construction resulted in £5.8m social value for the local area and the building has received positive feedback from stakeholders. As the population of Wallyford grows, the school will be a community Hub positioned at the heart of the town.
This award winning project was delivered for East Lothian Council by its development partner Hub South East and main contractor Morrison Construction. It was designed by JM Architects.
Paul McGirk, Hub South East’s Chief Executive, said: “Winning Public Development of the Year is recognition of the true partnership working, collaborative design, quality construction and social value delivered on the Wallyford Primary project.
“We were delighted to join the team on stage last night to collect this prestigious award and we look forward with excitement to working on future projects with East Lothian Council.”
Eddie Robertson, Managing Director for Morrison Construction Building Central added: ‘‘We are proud to have delivered this fantastic school and to be recognised last night as part of the award winning team.
‘’We’re particularly pleased that during construction, our progressive social value programme invested £5.8 million into the community through the employment of local businesses and we look forward to continuing to work with our partners in East Lothian in the future.’’
Councillor Shamin Akhtar, Cabinet Spokesperson for Education, East Lothian Council, said:
“We’re thrilled by this prestigious award for Wallyford Primary School. The whole team deserves huge credit for their efforts in delivering a successful school building, and it’s fantastic to see it receiving national recognition.
“As well as incorporating the ideas of children into the design process, there are many aspects which reflect the heritage of the area, leading to the creation of an inspiring learning environment that is rooted in its community. The facilities within the school have been developed to a very high standard and we’re delighted by the very positive feedback from children, parents, staff and the wider community ever since its opening last year.
“With East Lothian being one of Scotland’s fastest growing council areas, the new school and other developments at Wallyford provide significant opportunities for residents in terms of benefitting from new, improved community facilities.”