Mansfield-based Deanestor, one of the UK’s leading contract furniture specialists, has completed a £1.5m contract to manufacture bespoke furniture and fit out over 200 rooms for the first new secondary school to be built in Scotland in more than 25 years.

Bertha Park High School in Perth is an entirely new £32.5m school built by Robertson Construction, and delivered by hub East Central Scotland for Perth & Kinross Council.

The school has capacity for up to 1,100 pupils to accommodate an expanding local population and was built as part of the Scottish Government’s Schools for the Future programme.

Deanestor supplied and fitted more than 8,000 items of equipment for this project, including teaching aids, sports equipment, raised bleacher seating and lockers as well as soft furnishings. It manufactured around 1,200 items of bespoke fixed and loose furniture across the school, which included 1,200m of shelving, 300m of worktops, 350 cabinets and over 150 purpose-designed seating booths for the learning plazas and other areas.

Sensory equipment and furniture were also supplied by Deanestor for up to 35 children with special educational needs.

Deanestor’s team fitted out the entire school in a 22-week programme in areas such as science laboratories, food technology, café and social dining, ICT suite, art rooms, sports changing, design technology, break-out spaces, learning plaza, offices, reception and general classrooms.

Bertha Park was designed by architects NORR to encourage collaborative learning and a high level of social integration for all age groups. It is also the only school in the UK to be selected as part of the Microsoft Flagship Schools programme, using advanced technology to improve the children’s learning experience.

Commenting on the project, Andy Cook, Project Manager at Perth & Kinross Council, said:”We are more than happy with Deanestor’s performance on this project, from design and installation to the robust quality of the furniture.

“We adopted a very different approach for the design of this school to reflect the different methods of teaching and the increasing importance of social interaction.

“Each child is equipped with a tablet and the majority of learning materials are digital which reduces the need for physical storage. Tables have a flexible rather than a fixed layout.

“By moving away from traditional styles of teaching and adopting an environment that is similar to higher education, we will be preparing young people for working in the real world.”