Kent Fire and Rescue Service has been boosted with the recent delivery of a new 21st century fire station and training centre in Ramsgate.

Fire crews have now moved from the town's previous station in Effingham Street, which had been home to the fire service for 113 years.

The new two-storey fire station on Newington Road will support 22 firefighters from full-time crews and 14 on-call firefighters, comprising office space, sleeping quarters, apparatus rooms, and facilities for multiagency working with police, ambulance service, as well as a gym for voluntary sector workers.

A two-storey training block is also adjoined to the station.

Morgan Sindall delivered the project on time and on budget.


The company's area director, Russell Chatfield said: "Ramsgate Fire Station has been serving the local community for more than a century and we're incredibly proud to have been involved in this exciting next chapter in the station's history. We hope everyone is delighted with their new home, which will help the service to continue building on its longstanding reputation for many more years to come.

"During the build, it was particularly important to our team that our customer was kept at the centre of the project and was kept informed at every stage of the building's progress. We believe that this collaborative partnership was crucial to achieving a perfect delivery and handing the building over on time and on budget."

Advanced technology was also used towards the final stages of the build to create immersive walkthroughs of the station. Using Matterport 3D HD software the project team was able to transform 360-degree images into 3D immersive representations of the building, which could then be viewed by the client through a virtual reality (VR) headset.

The construction team also overcame significant design challenges, including the discovery of a World War II air raid shelter which was assessed by local archaeologists.

(CM)