Aintree, Fire and Rescue station & training academy

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Project at a glance

A path to net zero carbon fire and rescue services.

Our fifth project with Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service (MFRS), the new Fire and Rescue station and Training Academy and National Resilience Centre of Excellence is being constructed right in the heart of Aintree.

Responding to the Government’s 2050 net zero Carbon target was a key MFRS requirement, and our early involvement at RIBA 2 enabled us to carry out early optioneering and to work with the Service to develop a ‘Pathway to net zero Carbon,’ setting up the facilities now to achieve zero operational carbon by 2040.

We used energy data from three comparable fire stations, which we have delivered for MFRS over the last five years, to set benchmarks for the new facilities. The designs for these were 55% better than BSRIA benchmarks for Co₂/m² through incorporation of:

Enhanced building envelope
VRF heating and cooling to primary rooms
Panel heaters to ancillary rooms
Gas radiant panels to appliance bays
Heat recovery ventilation
Gas fired hot water

To further improve on these figures, we commissioned a low carbon options study for the project which enabled us to work with MFRS to select the most effective LZC opportunities for the project within operational and budgetary constraints.

Changes included:

Air Source Heat Pumps and underfloor heating to garages
No fossil fuels
A low temperature hot water and domestic hot water systems
Photovoltaic cells

The combination of these, in addition to optimising building locations and orientation resulted in a 46% decrease in carbon from previous designs, an impressive 75% better than BSRIA benchmarks.

our work with emergency services

The finalised design for the building generates 87,399 kg Co₂ p.a. with the current photovoltaic (PV) provision offsets this by 41,965 kg Co₂p.a.

Further PV provision in the car park area, allowed for within the design, will enable the Service to reduce Co₂by a further 45,434kg p.a. as funding comes online.

Through our early involvement with the project, we have been able to work with our customer to maximise sustainability outcomes within a capital budget, and to make design provision, and set out a pathway, that will enable them to achieve their ultimate goal of operational net zero by 2040.

fit out and refurbishment