Staff and pupils should be in Scotland's first Passivhaus primary school before the summer.
Riverside Primary School in Perth was due to open in April 2023 but the opening has been pushed back to some time "prior to the summer holidays".
With the revised opening date still "to be confirmed" contractors Robertson allowed the Local Democracy Reporting Service a sneak peek at what Perth and Kinross' first Passivhaus school looks like.
Riverside Primary School - built in the grounds of North Muirton Primary School - will be a merger taking in pupils from both North Muirton Primary School and Balhousie Primary School.
The schools' two nurseries have already merged. In August '21 nursery pupils from North Muirton moved to Balhousie in order for the stand-alone nursery building at North Muirton PS to be demolished making way for the new school.
The brand new school - now nearing completion - will incorporate the nursery, primary and an assisted support needs section.
A Perth and Kinross Council spokesperson said: "A huge amount of work has been done over the last two years to bring the schools together smoothly. The staff across both schools work very closely as one team and the nurseries have joined together.
"They have supported the children to build friendships and to get to know each other. They have undertaken a wide range of joint learning activities and contributed to establishing their new school with a range of activities such as forming a new pupil council, creating the new school logo and visiting and learning about their Passivhaus building.
"Plans are already in place to ensure classes settle well into the new building and the whole school community is very excited."
Last Wednesday project manager Gerry Hampton and Kevin Dickson managing director of Robertson Construction Tayside Ltd gave the Local Democracy Reporting Service a tour of the site.
It was hard to believe temperatures were sub-zero outside when stepping into the school which is designed to be a comfortable temperature all year round. Passivhaus buildings are designed to be warm in winter and comfortably cool in summer.
Managing director Kevin said: "It's so much more than a normal build. It's -6ºC outside today and you can take your jacket off inside - without any heating."
While Passivhaus buildings are more expensive Kevin said: "The expense is offset by the energy use.
"This build's about 15-20 times more airtight than a traditional build so energy costs come down. It has 50 per cent reduced leakage."
The school is light, bright and airy. Three separate staircases access the upper floor which is flooded with light from rooflights in the wide corridor as well as light streaming in from the classroom windows.
The gym hall, dining room and assembly hall is one bright open space.
And the headteacher's office sits upstairs right at the heart of the action next to the classrooms.
Pupils from both schools have been invited along to see how work on their new school is progressing with visits every other Friday.
Project manager Gerry Hampton said: "We have one or two classes every other Friday and everyone has now seen round it and we're on second visits."
And they have kept the builders on their toes with their questions which have ranged from: "If the building is airtight, will we be able to breathe?" to "How will we get the balls down from the rafters in the gym hall because it’s so high?"
As for "How many bricks/windows are there?", 145,000 bricks apparently and 105 windows and glazed doors.
The building has been built with a steel frame and has air source heat pumps.
Gerry said: "The air handling units are oversized in case there's another pandemic - Perth and Kinross Council has future-proofed the building."
Nearing the end of our tour he added: "All that remains now is for the floor, ceiling and lights to be fitted and then building services can come in to commission the building."
It is understood North Muirton Primary School will be demolished over the summer holidays and the site will be transformed into playing fields for the new school.
