Kitchens fit for an Army

This new state-of-the-art centre, which cost £21.9m to convert from a former IT office building, boasts a range of culinary delights and is a vast improvement on the facilities that were available to DFSS at its previous home in St Omer Barracks, Aldershot.

DFSS trains the personnel that provide catering support to the UK Armed Forces on operations, exercises and in barracks. As well as 12 training and two realistic working environment kitchens, the new facility also encompasses offices, a library, lecture rooms, a field training area and stores.

Outside of the building there are storage units and a full field training area including the tentage and operational field catering system that trainees encounter on exercise and operations.

The relocation of DFSS project was initiated in June 2007. The school's original site was required for new accommodation as part of Project Allenby/Connaught.

Working closely with their regional prime contractor PriDE and the Army Infrastructure Organisation, Defence Estates managed the major refit programme which was completed within 14 months of inception.

The project's impressive momentum was achieved through close teamwork and the fact that heavy penalties would have been applied if DFSS failed to vacate the original site in Aldershot.

What the new school has lost in size it has gained in innovation. The building includes a number of novel features and the latest in environmentally-friendly technologies.

The refitting work ensured that the facility meets, or in some instances exceeds, Government energy targets. As well as the careful choice of building materials, its carbon footprint will be kept to a minimum thanks to a host of energy-saving measures and the use of renewable energy sources.

Insulation has been added to external walls and roofing, long-life fluorescent lights have been installed, and a novel system for recycling heat has been fitted so that 70 per cent of the heat generated through cooking is re-used.

Recycling is a key theme throughout the building - which of course has been recycled itself.

Cookery training at the school produces up to 1.5 cubic metres of food waste a day which now, instead of going to landfill, will be composted in the site's specialist plant. This converts the waste food to compost in approximately seven weeks, reducing the volume for disposal by 90%.

Not only is the DFSS going to save an estimated £50,000 per annum on landfill taxation, but the bio non-hazardous compost produced can also be put to good use elsewhere on the military estate.

The need for unsightly venting chimneys and risk of potential odour has been removed by an air-handling plant with a built-in UV treatment system. This design will eliminate the need for costly deep-cleaning and reduce critical operational downtime. It is one of the largest installations of this technology anywhere in the world.

The adaptation was far from straightforward though, as Defence Estates Project Manager Stuart Adamson explained:

"The existing building presented a major challenge in its adaptability from an IT centre to mostly kitchen classrooms - moulding a square into a circle best explains the task. Defence Estates has had to engineer the requirement to suit the maximum potential of the building which took considerable innovation from all parties involved in the project."

The DFSS project has also brought about a series of improvements to the utilities infrastructure at Worthy Down.

A new 100,000-litre water storage tank has been installed, providing a guaranteed minimum of two days' supply to the facility in the event of a loss of water to the camp. The energy-saving technologies employed in the building will reduce consumption so much that a one megawatt electricity transformer has been isolated and can be put to alternative use in future.

A new gas main has also been installed, new soak-aways provided for storm water drainage, and a new pumping station with a slow release mechanism established for waste water.

Major James Marshall Royal Logistic Corps, Chief of Staff of DFSS, who has been the customer representative on the project for the last 18 months, commented:

"Defence Estates, through the regional prime contract, has delivered a first class facility which improves the working conditions of our staff and trainees, provides state-of-the-art training facilities, and supports the wider MOD sustainability agenda by reducing running and food disposal costs."

This article is taken from the Spring 09 editon of Estatement - delivering estate solutions to Defence needs.