Case Studies

Location: Moray

SPA Partner: Moray Council

SPA Appointed Company: Morrison Construction

Project overview

The Moray Schools project was a £20M primary school improvement and phased refurbishment package involving four existing primary schools within Moray, which was funded through the Scottish Future’s Trust and Moray Council.

St Gerardine Primary School in Lossiemouth, Applegrove Primary in Forres, Milbank Primary in Buckie and Seafield Primary in Elgin all underwent extensive refurbishments as part of a 4-school contract. The project was awarded under the SPA Framework to improve and extend the existing school buildings both internally and externally.

All the schools remained open and operational throughout the duration of the project. Full height partitions with fire escape doors, were appropriate, were used to separate work areas from live areas. Morrison Construction worked closely with the school throughout the works.

The works were split into phases within each school to minimise disruption and decrease potential safety concerns. Weekly meetings were held with the Head Teachers to ensure that all noisy or dusty works were undertaken out with school hours or during the school holidays.

Morrison Construction carried out upgrades to the u-values to improve energy and heating efficiency as well as a major upgrade to the mechanical and electrical system.

St Gerardine Primary School, Lossiemouth

The £3.8M improvements in Lossiemouth included: a new modular extension to add two classrooms, a demolition of the hutted accommodation, installation of new boilers, doors, and windows, as well as full re-wiring and re-plumbing.

Seafield Primary School, Elgin

In Elgin, the £4.8M building project saw a complete overhaul of the electric and plumbing systems, improved insulation, and a mixture of new and upgraded roofing with the addition of a new modular accommodation, creating a nursery and two classrooms.

Millbank Primary School, Buckie

For Millbank Primary, works consisted of the refurbishment of the nursery to create a new enhanced provision, a new plant room, a new modular unit extension, refurbishment of associated external areas and the main school.

Applegrove Primary School, Forres

The £4.2M refit at Applegrove Primary included: the installation of a new roof, wiring, LED lighting, within a 60-year-old building, which improved the use and design.

Why SPA?

The Schools and Community Buildings Framework was well suited to meet the needs of Morrison’s client partners – Moray Council – by providing flexibility in procurement routes and a “fast track” appointment. Using the Framework allowed for significant time savings at the pre-construction stages.

“The scale of these four school projects – including the recently-opened Applegrove and Millbank primaries – was tremendous, and the improvements reach far beyond the immediate learning environment. Our children’s communities have benefitted, and will continue to do so, as a result of this investment.” - Vivienne Cross, Head of Schools and Curriculum Development, Moray Council

SPA’s SCB1/2 Framework has been successfully renewed as PB3 Public Buildings Framework, which is valid until September 2023.