Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
New school learning annexe gets top marks
Extension adds to experience for young pupils
Pupils returning to an Airdrie schools campus from last week now have additional learning space after the completion of a new extension and reconfiguration.
Two new classrooms have been created with the construction of the extension at All Saints Primary, while an internal courtyard has been repurposed to create a further room for campus neighbours Rochsolloch Primary.
It increases the two schools’ respective capacities to 305 and 313, giving around 60 extra pupil places per school.
The £1.1 million development was handed over to North Lanarkshire Council in December; with many pupils in primaries four to seven first seeing the new developments as they returned to classrooms last week for the first time since Christmas after nearly a term of lockdown home lessons.
All Saints now has an additional extension constructed at the south-west corner of its existing building to house the two new classrooms, which are opposite the schools’ shared games hall.
The project was completed by Glasgow firm Linear Design Construction (LDC), working with design team JM Architects and Blyth & Blyth, with the firm having been appointed through construction project partnership Hub South West.
LDC managing director Ryan Broadley said: “We’re delighted to see another vital education project completed to such a high standard.
“We’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with the teams at Hub South West and North Lanarkshire Council to bring this project to fruition, and look forward to working together again in future.”
Hub South West chief executive Michael Mcbrearty added: “It’s fantastic to see the extension of All Saints and Rochsolloch primaries now complete.
“Pupils and staff can now benefit from an updated and more functional space.
“We have collaborated frequently with North Lanarkshire Council on educational projects and early years developments, and are delighted to have worked alongside LDC to deliver this interesting project on the council’s behalf.”
Planning permission for the extension was first granted two years ago for the work at the Airdrie campus – which opened its doors nine years ago to replace the two schools’ separate century-old buildings.
The new classroom spaces will help address capacity pressures, with a council spokesperson last year telling the Advertiser how previously “general purpose rooms [were] being used for teaching, so this work will create additional space for both schools”.