Sustainability at the heart of £1.3 million upgrades at Fife College campuses

@FifeCollege Students returning in the new year will be greeted by a fresh look and feel around Fife College’s campuses. 

Around £1.3 million worth of upgrade works have taken place across all five campuses over the past few months as the College prepared to welcome more students into classes.

With preparatory works starting on the new Dunfermline Learning Campus, the College has committed to making improvements across all of its campuses in the meantime.

In Glenrothes work has taken place to provide new study areas to allow students to be on campus safely. This has included a major upgrade to the library space, with several classrooms also having been refurbished, and benches installed in outdoor spaces for staff and student use too.

The current Dunfermline Campus has also seen the installation of new external seating space for staff and students at the front of the main building. 

A polytunnel growing area has also been constructed at Dunfermline, which will be used as a learning space by the College’s Supported Programmes, while a new space has been created for use as a work base for a staff and student collaboration.

At the Kirkcaldy Campus, work has finished on modernising the front entrance area with new windows and fascias being installed, providing a brighter and more sustainable environment for staff and students.

Several classrooms have also been refurbished, and work on the new student-designed restaurant is due to complete in the coming weeks.

At the College’s Roysth site, several rooms have been decorated and refurbished with flooring, blinds, and new furniture while work on upgrading catering facilities at Levenmouth has been completed.

Susan Dunsmuir, Chief Financial Officer at Fife College, said:

“The programme of upgrade work carried out by our estates team is part of our ongoing commitment to enhance our campuses.

“With plans moving at pace for the new Dunfermline Campus, as well as major works at our Glenrothes Campus in the pipeline, we were keen to use the past few months to make significant improvements to all our campuses.

“Sustainability was at the heart of the work carried out, while we also took coronavirus guidance into consideration, which led to improvements to our outdoor spaces.

“We hope our new students and those students and staff returning enjoy these fantastic new spaces.”

Tam Cunningham, Estates Manager at Fife College, added:

“The team have been working flat out over the past months to provide students with a modern and inspirational place to study. It’s great to see students, and staff, returning and start to benefit from the new facilities. 

“All the work we have carried out would not be possible without the brilliant contract support we receive.

“Marshall Construction, our building works contractor, have been played a key role while our MITIE cleaning teams have ensured a clean and safe environment for the return of staff and students. Thanks to both for their continued support.”

Fife College is one of the largest colleges of higher and further education in Scotland with five main campuses located in:

• Dunfermline
• Glenrothes
• Kirkcaldy
• Leven, and
• Rosyth

Over 17,000 students currently study either full-time or part-time at the College, which also hosts the Carnegie Conference Centre, a University Hub, and the Andrew Carnegie Business School.

The College offers over 400 courses, from essential skills to graduate degree programmes, in more than 40 different subject areas, with 90% of Fife College students progressing in to either employment or further studies after completing their courses.