School children get an insight into history and construction at Sunnyside

Last week a group of schoolchildren donned their high-vis waistcoats for a visit to our Sunnyside housing development site – where the abandoned iconic Sunnyside Royal Hospital buildings still stand.

The Primary 6 children, who were visiting from the nearby Rosemount Primary School were guided around the site by Sunnyside Estate site manager Mark MacPherson, where they found out about the former mental hospital and the new houses set to be built.

Sunnyside Estate director David Stewart and Hillcrest project officer Cristeen Fraser were also on hand to help out with facts and information for the kids during the visit.

The schoolchildren were also given the opportunity to (safely) step back in time with a foray into the ageing and dusty corridors and rooms of Sunnyside’s Carneggie House, where wealthier paying patients were once cared for.

The Hillcrest homes are being developed by Sunnyside Estates – a partnership between Tayside construction firm Pert-Bruce and Edinburgh based developer FM Group, and are set to be the first of two phases of affordable homes at the site.

Work on the first phase of 35 homes is expected to be completed in summer 2021, with the second phase which will deliver an additional 59 homes set to begin work that same year. The 94 homes in total will be earmarked for social rent.

The first phase of homes will offer a range of property sizes of one, two and three bedrooms, and will provide good quality housing for a range of family needs.

A CGI of how some of the completed homes will look.