New training facility for army engineers

The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) and Hercules have completed the construction of a new training facility for army engineers at MoD Lyneham, the UK Department of Defence announced on 1 October.

Hercules is a JV 50:50 between Kier Group and Balfour Beatty. Under the £121 million construction project, which lasted for over two and half years, the former RAF base at Lyneham has been transformed into a new training facility for the army’s Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME). Corps of REME is due to shift to the site from Arborfield and Bordon in early 2016.

The project is a part of £230 million investment for the redevelopment of the site that includes refurbished single living accommodation for trainees, training suites, purpose built enhanced training facilities including classrooms, a large outdoor training area, a gymnasium, a medical and dental centre, outdoor sports facilities, refurbished offices, a refurbished sergeants and officers’ mess with a new extension and REME’s new regimental museum, developed utilising the old officers’ mess.

The project involved a total of 65,000 square metres of refurbished buildings and 60,000 square metres of new builds.

Graeme Wildridge, DIO lead project manager, said: ‘This is a significant milestone in the delivery of the new REME facility at Lyneham. This project is a fantastic example of how we are supporting our armed forces by providing the right facilities in the right place to meet their needs. The close working relationships and team effort between all those involved within this project has resulted in the successful handover of facilities.’

Roger Frost, project director for Hercules, said: ‘We are delighted to have worked on such a high profile major project for DIO. The scale of the 93 week construction project, which spans a 1,200 acre site and has employed over 1,400 individuals at construction peak and 40 local companies during its lifetime, should not be underestimated; it reflects Balfour Beatty and Kier’s reputation for safely delivering high quality, sustainable solutions.’