Case Study:

West Sussex fire service training centre and fire station

Architect: HNW
Client: Willmott Dixon Construction
End Use: Fire station and training centre

The scheme in Horsham procured using the SCF framework will be the first of its kind in West Sussex, providing a highly modern working environment for fire and rescue service staff, as well as a 24-hour operational fire station.

Key features include a combined training tower and breathing apparatus facility, and a realistic live fire training area.  The high-tech premises will also include a residential element for new recruit training, an incident command training facility, realistic road traffic collision training area and rooms for digital simulations.

Sustainability is at the heart of the project, with a strong emphasis on renewable energy sources such as solar panels and air source heat pumps to provide heating, as well as electric vehicle charging points, in-line with the county council’s drive to become carbon neutral by 2030.

Within this state of the art facility firefighters can learn to tackle live fires in different situations, where trainers can run around 47 different scenarios.

Rooms in this building contain tables and electrical appliances so firefighters can learn how to work under many circumstances.

The fire gasses here are all extracted and reburned safely so smoke is emitted into the environment as clean air.

A V V Solutions has undertaken the masonry construction on this project.

“AVV Solutions were appointed as the Brickwork Contractor on for a project consisting of extension, alteration, and refurbishment of the existing Inner Temple Treasury Building. Most notably AVV are very helpful and commercially very competitive when taking on additional work. AVV’s Works began in February 2020 and they continued to work though the Covid-19 Pandemic while working to an extremely high standard and adhering to government guidance. Their approach to health and safety aligns with what Sir Robert McAlpine expects from a supply chain partner. They take physical and mental health/wellbeing of the workforce very seriously”

Sir Robert McAlpine

Read More Testimonials

“Construction Manager Magazine - Nov 2020 article “The original cornicing was moulded on to the ceiling and these sections were removed and later reinstated by our restoration specialist – AVV Solutions – who had to make good every individual cornice. A lot of the plaster on the walls had de-bonded – we used a ‘knock test’ to check this – and in these cases the plaster was removed under semi-controlled conditions because of the asbestos risk. This was replaced with lime plaster. The drawback here is the time it takes to dry, probably a week for two coats. Logistics was key to managing this work. We created a programme where eBrit would hack off the plaster, then AVV would follow through to replace it, moving from room to room. It gave continuity to the work.” Heritage Plastering - AVV Solutions Ltd”

Chris Linfoot - Willmott Dixon Interiors