hub South West Scotland, on behalf of North Lanarkshire Council, has appointed Kier Construction as construction partner to deliver the new St. Kevin’s Community Hub, which incorporates St. Kevin’s Primary School and community facilities.
The modern learning, teaching and community campus will be situated close to its existing location in Bargeddie. Incorporating a decoupled St. Kevin’s Primary School, the introduction of an additional new hub will allow for a more spacious community facility to successfully meet the needs of North Lanarkshire’s growing population, by increasing its capacity to 242 pupils when complete.
Expertly designed by architecture firm Stallan-Brand, the St. Kevin’s campus will offer a modernised hub incorporating generous classrooms and outdoor learning facilities alongside a large gym hall and impressive multi-use games area. Helping to bring a fresh outlook, pupils are involved in the design process and will take part in workshops to offer their creative visions as inspiration for the new campus.
The local community will benefit throughout the build of St. Kevin’s community hub, as local contractors and SMEs will be supported, and eight new construction roles will be created, including two modern apprenticeships. There will also be approximately 30 work placements and over 100 training opportunities provided. Kier Construction is due to begin works on the site in summer 2023, with an expected completion date of mid-2024.
Speaking of the wider community benefits that will be provided through the new St. Kevin’s Community Hub, Kirsten Larsen, Convener of Education at North Lanarkshire Council commented: “The St. Kevin’s community hub is going to be a fantastic new school and community facility which will deliver a superb teaching and learning establishment for pupils and staff alike.
“Importantly, this new hub will deliver many facilities for the wider community to enjoy and we look forward to seeing our vibrant vision come to life over the next couple of years.”
Phil McDowell, Regional Director of Kier Construction North & Scotland, said: “We are thrilled to be appointed as preferred bidder for stage 1 of St. Kevin’s Community Hub, particularly as this lies within our local area, near to Kier’s main Scotland office. This new hub will be transformational for North Lanarkshire, providing a dynamic and sustainable space for pupils, teachers and the community to hugely benefit from.
“Kier has a long-standing relationship with hub South West Scotland and the transparency and support that we receive from them is instrumental in ensuring that we take the needs and demands of the local community into full consideration throughout the development journey. We look forward to working with them again to bring tangible benefits to the local area.”
Chief Executive of hub South West Scotland, Michael Ross, commented: “To date we have successfully delivered over £116m of educational projects for North Lanarkshire Council. As delivery partner we are helping drive North Lanarkshire’s school estate strategy and we have a further three live projects on site worth over £58m. As an industry collective we are focused on working together to create first class built environments which bring positive impacts for the wider community and support the local economy through a wide range of initiatives.
“Having already delivered a large number of projects with Kier, it is great to be working with them again on this project. Not only do they deliver work which is of a very high standard, they share our commitment to growing and enhancing local communities around South West Scotland.”
