Fife College is putting the finishing touches on its new Dunfermline City Campus, including installing modern, sustainable furniture throughout the building.
Delivered by leading supplier Wagstaff, the furniture contractor is providing a high-quality, environmentally responsible fit-out designed to complement the College’s state-of-the-art learning spaces.
As part of its strong commitment to sustainability, Fife College has re-purposed a significant amount of existing furniture from its current Dunfermline Campus in Halbeath – including classroom tables, chairs, and soft seating. In partnership with Wagstaff, many of these items have been re-upholstered and refreshed to suit the design of the new campus while minimising waste and carbon emissions.
For new furniture, Wagstaff has worked with manufacturers with strong environmental credentials. This includes using fabrics made from sustainable or recycled materials, and suppliers such as Sedus, who are providing staff desks and classroom tables and are on track to achieve CO2-neutral production this year.
This sustainable approach is part of the delivery of Scotland’s first net-zero-ready tertiary education building. The first major development to adopt the Scottish Government’s Net Zero Public Sector Buildings Standard, the new campus has set a benchmark for environmentally responsible design and aims to achieve full net-zero status by 2035 – a decade ahead of government targets.
The new Dunfermline City Campus will open its doors to students for the first time on Thursday, 30 October.
Jim Metcalfe, Principal of Fife College, said:
“It’s fantastic to see the new Dunfermline City Campus coming to life as we prepare to welcome students for the first time. Every part of the campus – right down to the furniture – reflects our commitment to sustainability and innovation.
“By re-purposing existing furniture alongside new sustainable pieces, we’ve reduced waste, cut embodied carbon, and created a truly inspiring environment for learning and collaboration.
“We can’t wait to open our doors and share this incredible new space with our college community.”
John Brown, Director at Wagstaff, said:
“This is the first major project Wagstaff has undertaken since being appointed to the Advanced Procurement for Universities and Colleges (APUC). Wagstaff worked closely with the client and our supply chain to ensure all materials met stringent environmental standards. The Wagstaff Group are incredibly proud to play a part in what will be an incredible journey for generations to come at Fife College.”
Fife College’s new Dunfermline City Campus represents a once-in-a-generation investment in education for Fife. It is part of the wider Dunfermline Learning Campus, which brings together Fife College, St Columba’s RC High School, and Woodmill High School in a purpose-built, collaborative learning environment.
Fife College’s new Dunfermline City Campus is a pathfinder project for the Net Zero Public Sector Buildings Standard in Scotland. It is being closely watched across the country as a model of sustainable development.
The campus has delivered an industry-leading embodied carbon footprint of just over 560kg CO2e/m2 for the Teaching Building and a total embodied carbon footprint of 601kg Co2e/m2 for the three buildings, which are part of the campus development.
The project’s initial embodied carbon target was 650kg CO2e/m2, and all project partners, including Reiach and Hall, A10, Woolgar Hunter, Horner and McLellan, Balfour Beatty and their expert supply chain worked collaboratively to achieve this result.
Sustainability has been integral to the Dunfermline City Campus from the outset, with cutting-edge construction techniques used to significantly reduce embodied carbon emissions. Embodied carbon – the carbon footprint of materials and construction – can account for up to 70% of a building’s total emissions over its lifetime.
Key sustainability design measures at the new campus have included the replacement of concrete floor slabs with Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) planks and green ‘Delta Beams’, fabricated from 95% recycled steel. This combination of CLT and recycled steel has enabled a lighter structural design, reducing the volume of concrete required for both the superstructure and foundations. The result has been a reduction of approximately 20% of the typical embodied carbon expected in a development of its size.
More information about Fife College’s new campus can be found here.