The project was a collaborative effort for the design, construction, finance and operation of five community fire stations in the North East of England for the Tyne and Wear, Durham and Darlington and Northumberland Fire and Rescue Authorities, as well as a headquarters based in West Hartford.
This project has dramatically improved the facilities for the fire and rescue service in the North East, which was facing diverse and rapidly changing challenges, from the management of major incidents, ensuring a safer community, to the impacts of climate change.
The design and construction of all five stations is environmentally friendly achieving BREEAM (energy efficiency rating) of between ‘very good’ and ‘excellent’.
As well as providing emergency fire and rescue cover, each community station provides state-of-the-art facilities, as well as free internet access and meeting rooms, which are available for local organisations and members of the public to book.
Stakeholder representation at the DQI workshops was mainly from Fire Service personnel (i.e. fire fighters & other staff), although there were also representatives from community groups associated with the project, local authorities and external consultants. . The active engagement of key project leaders to ensure that they were fully supportive of the process was also key to the success of the DQI workshops.
Alex Bennett, Chief Fire Officer for Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service said that ”all those who were involved in the building projects, from conception to completion, are to be congratulated for their hard work in making these fantastic projects so successful. All five fire stations are now integral parts of the communities they serve.”
Images: Napper Architects