______ Project Overview

Ardrossan Community Campus is a new 16,000m2 educational facility which will incorporate both Winton Primary and Ardrossan Academy. The new facility will include state-of-the-art educational and sporting facilities, a community library, and a swimming pool.

Designed by JM Architects for North Ayrshire Council, the new education and community campus is part of a wider plan for the site which also include sports pitches, housing, commercial uses, roads, a new coastal path, and facilities associated with an extended marina.

Site remediation works commenced on the former shell site in December 2023 and the campus construction is set to begin in Summer 2025, with a target opening date of 2027.

______ Our Scope

Carbon Futures has been appointed to work on the project design team as the independent Energy and Sustainability Consultant, responsible for developing the energy, carbon and environmental strategies for construction of the building and aligning the building to industry Net Zero standards.

Strategy development has been undertaken using detailed dynamic simulation modelling to accurately account for building performance, via digital twin software.

The modelling and analysis during the design phase has allowed the design team to understand the performance implications of numerous improvement options and allowed the team to then make informed design decisions based on this science based data.

______ Details

The building has been designed to both the principles of the Passivhaus Standards and requirements of the Scottish Government’s Net Zero Public Sector Building Standard (NZPSBS).
As the Sustainability Consultant, Carbon Futures also provided Net Zero Champion support by outlining the requirements of the NZPSBS, undertaking modelling and analysis, and liaising with the Scottish Futures Trust.

The building has applied a fabric first approach by optimising the building envelope, thermal and airtightness lines.

The building also includes Air Source Heat Pumps that deliver the heating and hot water, Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery and Solar PV arrays on the roof.

Carbon Futures undertook energy, IEQ and carbon modelling from RIBA Stage 2 and throughout the design programme to test options, optimise and ultimately inform the design development process in order for the building to ensure it was going to meet the targets within the project brief.

______Project Partners

North Ayrshire Council, JM Architects, Atkins Realis, Morgan Sindall, Blyth and Blyth Consulting Engineers, Hirst Landscape Architects, Wallace Whittle