£25k refurbishment for historic Dollar Academy

Novus Property Solutions has redecorated five buildings at Scotland's oldest co-educational boarding school

Posted by Julian Owen | October 30, 2017 | Facilities & buildings

• #dollar-academy
• #novus-property-solutions
• #clackmannanshire
• #david-yuill-kirkwood
• #redecoration

Founded in 1818, making it the oldest co-educational boarding school in Scotland, Dollar Academy recently underwent significant refurbishment. Sited in Clackmannanshire, it’s a day and boarding school for 1,200 boys and girls aged from five to 18. The 70-acre school campus features numerous buildings of periodic and modern design, all set in a stunning location, with the Ochil Hills providing the backdrop. 

The redecoration project took six weeks to complete in order to fit in with the school’s summer holiday break, limiting disruption to pupils and staff. The wide-ranging works included repainting the exterior of one building and the interior of four buildings on campus, as well as refreshing the road and playground markings throughout the school grounds.  

The school’s Playfair building, with its distinctive neo-classical façade, was designed by the eminent Scottish architect William Henry Playfair. The team repainted the main reception area and back office as well as the entranceway to the main assembly hall in the Playfair building. 

In the award-winning Maguire building - which houses the school’s art, PE and drama facilities - the team refreshed the gym hall, first aid room and entrance. While in the Dewar building, which houses the science department, Novus operatives repainted the ground floor foyer area. 

"The redecoration project took six weeks to complete in order to fit in with the school’s summer holiday break, limiting disruption to pupils and staff."

The Junior School building required redecorating throughout and Novus was tasked with repainting seven classrooms as well as various corridor areas and the toilets. Johnstone’s Acrylic Durable Eggshell and Acrylic Satin, which were specially mixed to shades from the Farrow and Ball range, were applied, providing a high performance tough coating - ideal for a busy school environment. 

As part of the project, Novus also refreshed the exterior of the Prep School building, including the roughcast facia and soffits. The team also repainted the playground markings, including hopscotch and other traditional playground games, using a specialist Chlorinated Rubber paint in various colours. 

David Yuill-Kirkwood, building and contracts manager at Dollar Academy said: “It was vital that all the refurbishment work was completed before the start of the new school term and the limited timescale meant there was no room for any delay. We were impressed by Novus – the team worked closely with us throughout and altered their planned schedule of works at times to fit in around other trades on site, which made the whole process much smoother. The quality of finish is excellent and the redecorated areas of the school look much brighter and fresher, and all completed within budget.”