Cumbernauld Village Family Learning Centre and Forgewood Family Learning Centre will both provide early learning and childcare for babies and children aged up to five years old and will deliver a combined total of 133 places to the region.

The main contractor was appointed to the project through hub South West, the development partner of the council.

Funding for the project has come partly from the Scottish Government, as part of Holyrood’s commitment to double the provision of free early learning and childcare to 1140 hours. 

Located on Kinloch Drive in Motherwell, Forgewood Family Learning Centre will provide 93 nursery places. Cumbernauld Village Family Learning Centre is located on Glasgow Road in Cumbernauld and is being built on the site of the old Cumbernauld Primary School. Once complete, it will provide 40 nursery places.

Designs for both projects feature a single-storey building with separate playrooms for use by 1 to 3-year-olds and 3 to 5-year-olds. There will also be a parents room and office space.

There will be a large outdoor play space which will include space to run and climb, play in the sand and make mud pies in the mud kitchen. Landscaping works will also be carried out by planting wild meadows and grass areas around the playground.

Both of the nurseries will also have a new car park installed to provide spaces for staff and parent use including disabled spaces. Bike racks will also be installed to encourage greener modes of transport.

Designs for each of the new builds include the use of eco-friendly construction materials, with the main buildings being made from timber; a quick-to-build insulating material which reduces heating loss and associated energy requirements. Solar panels have also been installed to the roofs of both nurseries.

The majority of the supply chain for the projects is made up of local contractors from the Glasgow and North Lanarkshire areas.

As a gift to pupils, Morgan Sindall Construction has also equipped both of the nurseries with high-vis jackets and hard hats to provide resources for playtime, and to help aid learning.

Work on both projects started recently, with handover due in late 2021.

All work on the nurseries will comply with health and safety guidelines set out by the Scottish Government and Health Protection Scotland (HPS) to ensure a safe working delivery during COVID-19.

Stuart Parker, managing director for Morgan Sindall Construction in Scotland, said: “We are really pleased to be working in partnership with hub South West to build these new nurseries for North Lanarkshire Council.

“Together, we’ve helped the local authority to deliver vital additional early years capacity, building six similar schemes over the last two years, worth a combined £10m and providing more than 350 nursery and early years places. With sustainable design choices, such as using timber and solar panels, we’ve minimised the embodied and operational carbon footprint of these nurseries. We have strong relationships with the local supply chain and look forward to delivering these projects for the end of the year.”