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For UK fire and rescue teams to effectively deliver their services and meet community needs, well-designed facilities in the right locations are essential. Yet the nationwide estate includes many buildings approaching end of lifecycle, requiring refurbishment or replacement. It is an ongoing challenge for local authorities to determine which facilities remain fit for purpose.
AtkinsRéalis works with local authorities to provide a sound evidence base for fire and rescue estate planning, prior to then delivering effective project and cost management of capital works. We have developed a data collection and analysis methodology, tailored to the unique needs of the service, alongside client-specific strategic design guidelines for fire stations.
West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, an integrated part of West Sussex County Council, asked for our help as part of our appointment on an innovative multi-disciplinary consultant agreement, via the CCS framework. Following statutory inspection, the council had allocated a budget for fire station improvements and wanted to achieve best value from its investment.
We used our strategic estate planning expertise to determine which elements of the buildings should be assessed. The focus was not just the buildings themselves, but how they are used and to what extent they support the service’s aims and values, including best practice around decontamination and firefighters’ health and wellbeing.
Twenty-five county-wide fire stations were surveyed. We assessed 11 key areas at each station:
- Accessibility
- Building condition (building fabric and mechanical and electrical services)
- Energy use and performance
- Health & safety
- Contamination risks
- Community and training areas
- Welfare areas
- Drainage conditions
- Planned and backlog maintenance
- Operational and lifecycle costs
- Site expansion potential.
We conducted thorough stakeholder engagement through workshops with key decision-makers on topics including post-incident contamination management, health & safety, training facilities and ED&I. This helped us understand operational and facility issues and explore ways of overcoming barriers through better design. The workshop outcomes fed into production of a comprehensive design guide.
This was an iterative process, where the survey data and client engagement enabled us to produce a matrix summarizing the forecast maintenance, and operational and capital upgrade costs for each station. Each criteria had an adjustable weighting, allowing grouping and ranking of the data to generate investment recommendations.
Most stations had high energy costs, with considerable scope for savings, via upgrading performance, de-carbonizing heat sources or rebuilding. Our lifecycle cost consultant’s input was invaluable, to generate planned maintenance costs and to present data visuals. Where possible, sites will in future use renewable energy sources, in line with the council’s drive to become net zero carbon by 2030.
The resulting clarity enabled West Sussex County Council to devise investment and divestment strategies, subsequently identifying five fire stations for improvement. A business case will now develop those plans, reinforced by our robust estate data analysis and cost information.
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