It feels like home
A trio of different Fire Service projects for Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Service
Delivered through the SCF framework, a trio of Fire Service projects have enhanced the ability to respond to emergencies, and helped to up-skill fire offers across Hampshire.
The first new on-call station in the region for 40 years in Bishops Waltham, the UK's first live fire training facility of its kind in Eastleigh, and a new state-of-the-art Fire and Police Station with an integrated training hub for the East of the region in Cosham.
These facilities are helping provide excellent response times and state of the art training.
Click to watch the video
The staff here are blown away. It’s hard not to be impressed by the facilities. It’s incredibly airy, there’s so much space and it still feels like home - like a fire station should. It’s an amazing place to come and work.
The whole design of the new stations is centred around decontamination.
Both Bishops Waltham and Cosham Fire Stations have a red-amber-green route within the building.
The route provides a natural journey back from their engine, through to the main station areas.
Its fire fighters returning from duty to enter a red zone first, where their overalls can be safely taken off and placed in suitable washing apparatus; move to an amber zone, where they can have a shower and get changed, and finally a green zone, where they can rest, recuperate or re-engage in other work activity.
The whole design of the station is based around decontamination. We wanted to make sure the red-amber-green decontamination strategy worked, so we spent a long time in design ensuring its success. We also wanted it to be inclusive, so it was clear to us that we should provide individual facilities.
Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Services investment plan also included for better and improved training facilities.
Part of this, was creating a brand new Live Fire training facility in Eastleigh.
One of the first of its kind, the pre-cast concrete frame building provides vital experience to fire fighters as they tackle controlled fire situations, whilst experience realistic after-effects and complications under supervision.
Bespoke materials such as fire retardant tiles and a specialist duct filtration system serve the facility, whilst the uniquely designed protection to walls, floor and ceiling in burn areas ensure the structure remains under the Eurocode requirement of 60 degrees.
At Cosham, the new station will serve as the training hub for the East of the region and incorporates a brand new training tower and additional training facilities.
The tower is designed in such a way, that they are able to change entrances and exits to run many different drills, making sure it challenges the trainees every time they enter the building.
The Live Fire facility is ground-breaking, it is so impressive. What we’ve ended up with is amazing. We evolved the design and it now includes so many different training scenarios. We also looked at the life cycle of the building and committed to spending more by moving from steel containers to a protected pre-cast concrete structure. For a facility where it burns on a daily basis, it’s a no brainer.
Now we have a huge facility where we can train to the modern techniques and impart more knowledge on our firefighters so they increase their skill set so we can respond quicker and keep our communities safer. The tower is bespoke and has interchangeable walls so we can change the scenario - it's a facility that helps them be the best they can possibly be.
Sustainability has also played a key role in the design of these facilities.
Both Cosham and Bishops Waltham Fire Stations are built to BREEAM Excellent standards.
Their fabric first approach to design, along with the use of renewable technologies (both stations boast and array of solar panels on the roof to lower electricity demand in operation).
Bishops Waltham, which has now been in operation for some time, is now showing the benefits that were invested up front in the design, are paying back in operation.
We worked with Winchester City Council to provide a sustainability statement for the station that would qualify it as equivalent to BREEAM Excellent, and Morgan Sindall helped us with achieving that from the design. It was the elements in this that we worked together to deliver. Our energy usage is now 1/5th of what it was for the old building per m2 and this new station is constantly in use, so the sustainability aspirations have been achieved.
Cosham Fire Station | £16mHampshire
A brand new three-storey modernised fire station with staff welfare facilities, training tower, community facilities and police station.
Following the demolition of former PCMI buildings, the team took a fabric first approach to creating this new integrated fire and police station. The steel framed building now acts as the training hub for the East of the Hampshire region, with its state-of-the-art training facilities.
The improved facilities include a specialist decontamination zone, where fire fighters returning from duty navigate through red, amber and green zones, ensuring harmful carcinogenics are eradicated through the decontamination process. Renewable technologies such as the solar panels on the roof will lower the carbon footprint.
The staff here are blown away. It’s hard not to be impressed and grateful for the facilities. It’s incredibly airy, there’s so much space but it doesn’t feel clinical – it still feels like home and still feels like a fire station should. It’s an amazing place to come and work.
On time and budget
BREEAM Excellent
556t CO2e saved
45/45 CCS score
SCF framework
Police and Fire
Training tower
Appliance bays
Solar panels
Air Source Heat Pumps
Architect | HLMPM | GleedsC&S | ARUPMEP | ARUP
Bishops Waltham Fire Station | £3mHampshire
The first on-call fire station to be constructed for Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service in over 40 years.
Following the demolition of the existing station, the team created a brand-new facility which provides a more dynamic training environment which is resilient to flooding (a key consideration for the local area).
The 250m2 building comprises an appliance bay, offices, and external tower and roof training rig, training areas, a mess hall and changing and breathing apparatus cleaning facilities. The station also includes a dedicated community engagement area accessible to local groups.
During the build, renewables such as solar panels and air source heat pumps were installed to reduce its carbon impact.
We worked closely with Morgan Sindall Construction to ensure the new build met our estate design principles, and it’s exciting we are now able to officially open the station and look back on all the work that led us to this point.
181 volunteer hours
5 workless job starts
83 Apprentice weeks
1,011 pupils inspired
250m2 building
Appliance bay
Live Fire Training Facility | £3.9mEastleigh, Hampshire
The construction of a new live fire training building for Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service.
Following the demolition of the old training facility, the team constructed a live fire training building from pre-cast concrete. The building is a Live Carbonaceous Fire Training Facility and crucially forms a key part of Fire Fighters Training in Hampshire and the surrounding areas.
The three storey building is is the first of its kind in the UK and has a special heat protection strategy as it is designed to present firefighters with the experience of tackling fires in a controlled situation. The team has designed Wall, Floor and Ceiling protection to burn areas which will ensure the structure stays below the Eurocode requirement of 60 degrees.
We had a highly experienced construction and design team and worked closely with DESPI to achieve their complex needs. We are looking forward to seeing these bespoke buildings integrate into the community.
40/45 CCS
16.2 tCO2e saved
949 pupils engaged
98% waste diversion rate
3 workless job starts
First in the UK
Pre-case concrete
Three storey
Specialist heat protection
Specialist ventilation
Architect | Cube DesignPM | H&IoW Fire ServiceC&S | Baker HicksMEP | CDP
Cosham Fire Station gives firefighters excellent training facilities so we can protect our community even better. There’s nothing that impresses firefighters more than a new fire engine in a new station, so they’re really excited to be here and the future of this station
Victoria Yates
Business Development Manager
Email Victoria
The relationship with Morgan Sindall has been really key. We would talk constantly and look at different ways of working to benefit the station and the project. It's definitely helped having Morgan Sindall on board.
