Fife Council’s new leisure centre has won the refurbishment category in a 'building of the year' awards.

The new centre in Dunfermline was awarded the refurbishment category in the Society of Chief Architects of Local Authorities (SCALA) Civic Building of the Year awards.

The building also received a commendation in the 2012 Saltire Awards from the Saltire Society. It was one of only five civil engineering projects in the country to be awarded the commendation by the Saltire Society.

Carnegie Leisure Centre was up against 112 other projects, only ten of which were short-listed.

The annual Saltire Society Awards are held to recognise excellence in civil engineering in Scotland.

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Carnegie is the first of three sports and leisure centres in Fife to be finished as part of the Future of Leisure programme.

Fife Council will have invested a total of £55m in facilities in Glenrothes and Kirkcaldy too, by the end of the project.

A design team worked on Carnegie with project managers Turner & Townsend and main contractor Barr Construction.

The Council said the aim was to retain and enhance many of the original Edwardian aspects of the building such as cast iron structures, ceramic glazed tiles, ornate plaster and timber detailing.

City of Dunfermline Area Chair Councillor Mike Rumney said: "The council made every effort to ensure the historic features of Carnegie were preserved during the refurbishment.

"In addition, a range of new technology has been used too to improve the building and it’s great to hear that this hard work has been recognised."

Ed Watson, Chief Executive of the Fife Sport and Leisure Trust, who operate and manage the Carnegie Leisure Center on behalf of Fife Council added his praise.

He said: "Since it reopened, Carnegie has been very popular with the local community, and overwhelmingly, people who use the Centre have been very impressed with the refurbishment."

(IT)