A new Primary School development has received accreditation from the Secured by Design crime prevention scheme. The development located in Kilmarnock, Scotland has merged the former Bellfield and Kirkstyle primary schools in order to create Whatriggs Primary School. The site of this new merged school has been recognised for demonstrating excellent levels of security and safety awareness through the Secured by Design standards.

The Secured by Design trained Designing Out Crime Officers have been working with the project’s architects, Keppie Design, a Glasgow based firm, and Morrison Construction which is a leading Scottish contractor, from the initial planning stage through to the final construction to incorporate a number of different techniques that have been proven to prevent crime.

The focus on crime prevention and security has been central throughout the design and construction of Whatriggs Primary School. The design and construction teams met frequently during the work on the school in order to discuss the layout of the school grounds as well as its buildings in order to make the most of the natural surveillance that is on offer on the site. It was also vital that the school was still welcoming and appealing to pupils and teachers.

Products used on the site were selected from the SBD’s Police Preferred Specification, and there was also lighting and CCTV installed to enhance security and surveillance on the site. The school campus construction has cost £12.4 million. The campus offers space for the merged primary school as well as an Early Education Centre. The campus first opened its doors at the start of the Autumn term to pupils and teachers.

The use of the Secured by Design scheme is to achieve a sustainable level of reductions in crime through the integration of proven features into design as well as a range of other approaches that will help people to live in a safer society.