Dumbarton Academy has opened the doors of its impressive new school building, costing a cool £15.5 million and has won the title as the quickest secondary school ever built in Scotland!
Dumbarton Academy is a non-denominational, co-educational comprehensive school in the heart of the town of Dumbarton, which is situated on the banks of the river Leven. The Academy has a long and proud history receiving its royal charter over an astonishing 500 years ago. The new school building has welcomed approximately 700 pupils into 57 modern classrooms on a campus measuring 10,518 square metres.
Designed by Keppie Design, the amazing new building is used for vocational classes. Pupils will benefit from having a hairdressing studio and construction area on site, preventing young people from travelling to separate colleges to learn these skills. The site includes a stunning 'Walk of Life' timeline of the school's history etched into the entrance path, a fitness trail around the playground featuring outdoor gym equipment, a music garden outdoor performance area with seating for 30-40 people and a school garden offering outdoor dining areas. This is in addition to two flood-lit all-weather pitches, a grass pitch and a 100m running track. The incorporation of these elements speaks volumes of the type of education facility Dumbarton Academy is, in promoting choice and for young people to fulfil their potential in whatever area they see best.
The main contractor on this scheme was the brilliant BAM Construction who used twin wall precast concrete to build the school instead of steel and brick. As well as increasing the quality of the structure this building method also saved time and enabled the school to be built in just 62 weeks! Dumbarton Academy is also on target for a BREEAM Excellence Award for promoting the use of energy saving measures such as solar panels. The building is environmentally responsible and energy efficient with the inclusion of a number of renewable technologies such as photo voltaic cells, solar / thermal hot water heating and a biomass boiler.
Tobermore's world class paving was the ideal choice of landscaping materials for the grounds of the pristine new school building. A vast area of Tobermore's Hydropave Pedesta in the warm tones of Heather and soft Natural is featured at Dumbarton. With all the versatility of Tobermore's standard and most popular paving products, Hydropave Pedesta is a permeable paving product with a rectangular profile which allows the creation of distinctive hard landscaping designs while reducing the risk of flooding and pollution. As flooding has become more common across the UK in recent years, new developments must now be designed to minimise any increased surface run-off. These innovative landscaping products from Tobermore were laid by Advance Construction.
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