Work starts on new Early Years Centre

They were joined on the site of the new building in Wardieburn Road by Councillor Cammy Day, Education, Children & Families Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council.

The new state of the art centre will open in October and is being built by construction partners Clark Contracts.

The new Granton Early Years Centre will be open all year round and provide 40 places for three to five-year-olds, 15 places for two to three-year-olds and nine baby places. It has been designed based on sector-leading research to support children’s learning and development.

Early years staff and designers at the Council have laid the foundations for radically changing the way early years learning is provided in Scotland, providing a nurturing, holistic and natural environment. Research has shown young children respond positively to natural colours and materials and this has greatly influenced the interior and external design of the building.

Innovations at the nursery include: 

• flexible learning spaces for children and staff
• large sliding doors providing views to nature, natural light and encouraging outdoor play
• use of natural materials such as real timber from Council parks
• integrating technology such as interactive screens and specially designed ‘tablet logs’ for learning
• high quality wooden furniture and equipment to provide exciting play experiences
• using social enterprises to provide materials such as the Grassmarket Community Project (bespoke wooden furniture) and North Lanarkshire Industries (natural fabrics for upholstery items)

The Council has already built new nurseries at Duddingston and Wardie Primary Schools and a new Fox Covert Early Years Centre. Other buildings planned for this year, as part of an overall £6m investment in early years, are:

Ferryhill Nursery, Corstorphine Nursery, Leith Nursery (extension), Tynecastle Nursery School, Longstone Nursery, Davidson Mains Nursery, and St John’s Nursery (opening 2018).

Vicki Paterson, Acting Head of the Granton Early Years Centre, said: “The Centre has provided longstanding support to young children and their families in the area. We’re all very excited by the prospect of extending this and being able to provide it in such a fantastic new facility. All the staff, families and most importantly our children can’t wait to move in.” 

Councillor Cammy Day said: “Investing in early years and delivering quality, affordable childcare is a priority for the Capital Coalition. We are providing extra places and have a programme of replacing older nurseries with new high quality buildings.

“The light, open design of these nurseries gives children the opportunity to express themselves and can only help stimulate them in such a fantastic learning environment.

“All the amazing design elements for the new centre will help the children on their journey to becoming successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors. We are committed to providing the best start in life for every child and ensuring they are ready to succeed as they grow up.”

Michael Scanlan, Director, Clark Contracts, said: “It is especially pleasing for us to be involved in the delivery of such an innovative learning centre and we very much look forward to working with the Council, our design team and the centre’s staff to construct this very important facility for the local community.”