In common with all Scottish Local Authorities, Inverclyde Council prepared a School Estates Strategy which sets out the Council’s plans for replacement and refurbishment of its school buildings. One new Primary School (Newark Primary, Port Glasgow) and a new Secondary School ( West Inverclyde Academy, Greenock) have been financed via the Prudential Framework (i.e. borrowing funds by savings made from revenue budgets following school closures).

The Secondary school will replace two existing Secondary schools and have a student roll of 1,100. The project aims to deliver exemplar schools to lead the designs for the PPP Schools project, released late in 2006. Sustainability is key in the design solutions with the floor plates being developed to maximise the use of natural light and ventilation.

Both have been designed by StudioE with mechanical and electrical services by Max Fordham. Inverclyde Council were committed to delivering schools with a design that fully embraced the requirements for sustainability. Sustainable power sources were introduced to both sites including wind turbines and the use of biomass heating systems. The structure was designed to accommodate free airflow in to the elevations below each floor level and immediately below the roof soffit to maximise the use of the structure’s thermal mass.

The Secondary school has a value of £23 million and the Primary approximately £9 million. Gordon Brown opened Newark Primary in 2008.