4 Aug 08

The first junior ranks village to be completed by Aspire Defence was marked by an event at Swinton Barracks, Perham Down.

Two 36 man junior ranks single living accommodation blocks (JRSLAs) and four eight man houses were handed over on Thursday 31 July. This adds to the existing junior and senior non commissioned officers’ living accommodation (SNCO), creating the first complete soldiers’ village delivered under Project Allenby/Connaught.

The buildings were accepted into service by Lt Col. Mick Lane from the MoD Project Team.

In total across the village there are now 18 JRSLAs and four eight man houses accommodating around 680 soldiers. These, together with the SNCO (80 man) block, provide 760 soldiers from 22 and 26 Royal Engineer Regiments with their own new private en-suite bedrooms.

Mike Boon, project director, ADCW said, “Completion of the first junior ranks village has given the whole team a sense of great satisfaction. It’s a joint achievement and reflects the excellent working relationships we now have between ADCW, ADSL, the MoD Project Team and the Garrison Management Team. The ‘can do’ approach has provided the foundations for delivering the aims of Project Allenby/Connaught and the strategic aspirations of the MoD.”

Doug Weidner, project manager, MoD Project Team added, “This is another significant milestone for Project Allenby/Connaught. To complete the whole village in such a short space of time, with many of the buildings being delivered ahead of schedule is very impressive; as is the excellent safety record on site. The provision of this modern living accommodation demonstrates that the Project really is having a significant positive impact on soldiers and is making their lives better.”

On average a team of 150 from Aspire Defence Capital Works (ADCW) have worked on the construction site. The final six modular buildings took around 22 weeks to build and complete.

A total of 650,000 safe man hours have been worked over a period of two years without a reportable accident; 900,000 bricks laid around the Corus and Rollalong modules; 4,500 light bulbs installed and approximately 20,000 square metres of carpet laid.

But it’s not just about construction. Aspire Defence Services Limited (ADSL) has recently celebrated the second year of service delivery across all the garrisons in the footprint, but Perham Down is particularly noteworthy.

Graham Blow, managing director, ADSL said, “ADSL has a really strong connection and affinity with the regiments based at Perham Down and particularly with 22 Royal Engineers. They were our first Project Allenby/Connaught customers in the demonstrator block * well before the contract was signed. They helped us hone the design and operability of the JRSLAs and so it really is exciting to see that we have achieved first class accommodation for them all. It has been fantastic to be part of the transformation of Perham Down and we must now rise to the challenge of ensuring the Royal Engineers get the first class level of service they all deserve”.

*The demonstrator block was built prior to contract award.

Perham Down has been host to a number of project ‘firsts’:

• The demonstrator block was built in 2004 to prototype the design of accommodation that Aspire Defence would be providing.
• The first Corus module on the Project was delivered and installed in November 2006.
• The first new building delivered since contract signature – the quarter masters’ office – was handed over in May 2007.
• The 1,000th Corus module was delivered and installed.
• Perham Down achieved two years of accident free working in June 2008.

Since then the design of the JRSLAs has been refined to reflect the feedback from soldiers, the MoD and from those working on the design, build and delivery of the accommodation to provide the blueprint for all future JRSLAs delivered across the Project.

While the buildings may look the same inside and out a large number of design adjustments have been undertaken to create the JRSLAs that are now delivered. For example:

• The roof-sited plant room was difficult to reach and the layout made it hard to access the equipment. The design has been changed to allow much freer access to both the room itself and the equipment it houses.
• Pre-erected scaffolding is installed prior to the Corus modules being put in place – giving full and safe access from the start of any new build.
• The front entrance now incorporates a glazed canopy instead of a metal canopy.
• This gives a lighter and more contemporary feel to the entrance area.
• The solar panel design has been changed from those used on the demonstrator as the previous design leaked.
• Pre-finished en-suite and bathroom pods are manufactured in the Czech Republic and then installed in the Corus bedroom modules at the Corus works in Shotton prior to Aspire taking delivery of the completed bedroom units.
• The foundations to the JRSLA now incorporate a ground bearing slab instead of strip footings. This has made site operations much safer eliminating a lot of trip hazards during the foundation construction phase.

Other buildings already in use within the barracks include the SNCO mess; the training wing; three refurbished technical buildings; an obstacle course; and a new guardroom/ armoury which were all delivered early to meet operational requirements. The super diner is still under construction along with the Regimental Headquarters and gym which will be handed over in 2009.

For further details, please contact: Julie Robertson, Corporate Communications Manager, Aspire Defence Limited, corporate.communications@aspiredefence.co.uk. Tel: 0845 168 2000 or mob: 07786 684940.