Community hub opens its doors to pupils

The new Chryston Community Hub features 17 bright and spacious classrooms for up to 509 pupils and replaces the existing Chryston Primary School building.

The new hub will also offer significant benefits to the broader community in Chryston for local groups and organisations to use.

Jilly Moffat, Head Teacher of Chryston Primary School, said:

“It was wonderful to see the look of joy on the faces of so many children this morning as they entered our wonderful new home.

“It’s the beginning of a whole new chapter for the school and such an exciting time for us and the wider community as we look forward to benefiting from all the wonderful new facilities that the hub has to offer.

“My special thanks go to all the pupils, staff and parents who have made these first few days so enjoyable, and I look forward to many more great days together in our fantastic new hub building.

“Children and young people, staff, parents and the local community worked closely with the design team to ensure the design of the campus reflects the educational aspirations of the council, while also taking into account the requirements of the local community and the natural heritage and architecture of the area.”

Hannah, a House Captain at Chryston Primary School, added: “I was completely stunned to see our new school – it’s amazing. We love the new classrooms and the outdoor areas.”

The £ 22 million facility also includes a new Community Health Clinic for NHS Lanarkshire, replacing the Muirhead clinic, which will open later next month.

Professor Jann Gardner, Chief Executive, NHS Lanarkshire, said:

“This entire development is an outstanding local facility. People in and around Chryston will now have access to a wonderful modern health and care clinic that delivers key services in the heart of their community.

“The purpose of this new centre has always been to enable and facilitate fundamental positive change, not simply replace the previous health centre building and services. This state-of-the-art centre will provide an opportunity to further tackle health inequalities by improving the delivery of services – shaping them around the needs of patients.

“This will build stronger co-operation between patients, their carers and families, NHS staff and all partner agencies.”

The new facilities at the Lanrig Park site boast impressive outdoor and indoor sports facilities with a bike ability track, a multi-use games area, an outdoor amphitheatre, covered outdoor teaching areas and various outdoor play equipment and both indoor and outdoor chutes.

Some of the community benefits in developing the Workforce for the Future included:

• Four apprentices started during the construction of the hub.
• 70 days of work experience/placements on site.
• 11 Educational activities, which included: design, cost and build of bug hotels with the pupils of Chryston Primary School. Design and build of viewing platform with the construction class students at Chryston High School.

Robertson Construction pledged a community fund of £15,000 Five groups have been awarded a share to enable them to fulfil their requirements such as an outdoor forestry education programme, health and wellbeing project, and community garden.

There are extensive landscaped playground areas for the school including growing areas and sandpits, healthcare gardens and community greenspaces and new paths have been designed encourage active travel to and from the new hub.

The new Chryston Community Hub also features:

• Electric vehicle charging spaces
• Changing places and breastfeeding friendly facilities
• Drama box/stage area with ballet bars and mirrors
• Digital learning area and multi-purpose room
• Demonstration kitchen for children
• Meeting rooms
• Shared staff zone

Chryston’s new school and health clinic is being delivered by council development partner Hub South West, lead designer Ryder Architects, with the build being carried out by Robertson Construction.

The new Chryston Community Hub was jointly funded by North Lanarkshire Council and NHS Lanarkshire.

The new facility is a core part of North Lanarkshire Council’s plan for the area, which prioritises investment in education, skills development, and employment opportunities to ensure residents have access to the resources they need to thrive.