The HIWFRS Property and Facilities team played host to their counterparts in other fire and rescue services, who were invited to a conference at the Portsmouth Marriott Hotel, highlighting the best practice in building a 21st century fire station.
The three-storey Portsmouth station was opened back in September by Lord Lieutenant Nigel Atkinson.
Alongside speakers from Morgan Sindall Construction, the contractors behind the build, HIWFRS were able to showcase the impressive emergency service hub, shared with police colleagues.
HIWFRS Head of Property and Facilities, Arron Hedges said:
“It was wonderful to be able to welcome our colleagues from fire services across the country to hear how we planned for and delivered a fire station built for the future.
“A lot of hard-work and planning went into the design process, which was a collaborative effort between our Estates team, our partners at Morgan Sindall Construction and of course our frontline crews.
“Cosham really has it all, from decontamination zones, impressive training facilities, sustainability technology and partnership spaces – we are proud to showcase our newest station.”
The event follows on from the Fire Station Design Conference which took place in Cheshire at the beginning of November where HIWFRS’ Watch Manager Steven Burns and Senior Estates Improvement Manager Emily Frith presented on contaminants and our Retrospective Design Principles (RDP) project, which more and more stations across Hampshire and Isle of Wight will benefit from ahead of its completion in 2025.
The Portsmouth conference covered important considerations made in the planning process of Cosham, such as separate clean and dirty zones for managing contamination, in line with the RDP project.
Cosham now serves as a unique and dynamic training hub in the east of the county, offering improved facilities not only for Cosham but for other stations as well.
Facilities include a BA chamber, road traffic collision area, ship firefighting hatches and lift rescue.
The building also boasts impressive energy and sustainability technology, including solar panels, which will help us reach our goal to be carbon neutral by 2030.
On the second day of the event, delegates were invited to visit the Live Fire Unit which opened last year at our Eastleigh Headquarters.
The modern facility is one of very few of its kind, presenting firefighters with the experience to tackle fires in controlled situations, in an environment where they are able to study how fire behaves in different conditions, and learn how best to respond.
A flexible space for our crews to train in, the bespoke unit allows for a variety of scenarios including one setup which replicates firefighting on a ship.
The ground-floor is based upon a mechanics garage with the first-floor designed like a typical flat and the second-floor has been planned out with an office layout.
Find out more about the new Cosham Fire Station and our Live Fire Unit on our website.
