The new Alness Academy provides education and community use facilities for the local area including a new building for 660 pupils, sports facilities, two floodlit 3G pitches, a 25m swimming pool, a games hall, and a gymnasium.

It also provides dedicated Additional Support Needs (ASN) & Social, Emotional and Behavioural Needs (SEBN) areas.

DSSR completed the full design of the MEP building systems, with a particular emphasis on sustainability and thermal comfort. Our services design also included future-proofing measures to account for an additional primary school on the site.

We also submitted a detailed decarbonisation feasibility study, created in close conjunction with the Participant, including an analysis of whole-life costs for the project.

Our design solution utilised biomass boilers and photovoltaic panels to minimise carbon emissions for the academy. The biomass boilers are housed within a separate Energy Centre which was prefabricated and brought to the site as a containerised solution. The building has achieved an EPC A rating.

The new sports facilities are managed by High Life Highland and are available to the community and Alness United to use during school hours.