The new facility will amalgamate the existing St. Mary’s Primary, Brisbane Primary and Kelburn Primary and will also include Largs Academy, accommodating 1200 secondary pupils, 820 primary pupils and a 100 place early years nursery.

The £44 million campus will be provided by North Ayrshire Council through the Scotland’s Schools for the Future programme, managed by the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT). The project will be delivered by hub South West Scotland via a Design, Build, Finance and Maintain contract (DBFM), with construction works being undertaken by Morrison Construction.

The Largs Campus will include principle learning plazas both secondary and primary, forming the heart of the campus, and will also feature a synthetic 7 aside pitch and a multi-use games area.

The site of the new facility will be next to Sportscotland’s Inverclyde base, with ongoing partnership meaning pupils will have access to some of their top-class sporting facilities. Completion of the new Largs Campus is scheduled for February 2018.

Councillor Tony Gurney, cabinet member for place, said: “We’re delighted that the contracts have been signed and everything is in place as we move forward with this extremely exciting development.

“The teams involved have a wealth of expertise and experience and they will deliver a facility that will be fantastic for Largs and the surrounding area.”

David MacDonald, hub programme director at Scottish Futures Trust, added: “The hub programme is an innovative approach to develop and deliver best-value community facilities which provides public bodies with a quick an efficient way of getting their projects into construction and helps to protect local jobs.

“I very much look forward to seeing the Largs Campus open with pupils, teachers and the local community benefitting from its first-class facilities.”

Michael McBrearty, chief executive, hub South West, said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with North Ayrshire Council, SFT and Morrison Construction to develop a new facility local pupils can be proud of.

“The benefits of the new Largs Campus are not just confined to education, with the project also supporting the local construction sector, creating fresh job opportunities and providing fantastic new facilities for the whole community to enjoy.”

Allan Calderwood, senior framework manager, Morrison Construction, added: “We are looking forward to working with North Ayrshire Council and hub south West Scotland to construct this new educational and community campus that will inspire future generations.

“We will be working hard with all the stakeholders involved to maximise the opportunities that this project can create for local people and local businesses, while providing pupils, staff and the community with a state-of-the-art facility that will stand the test of time.”