Project Details
- Client Name: West Mercia Police, Warwickshire Police and Hereford and Worcester Fire & Rescue Service
- Project Value: £12m
- Sector: Blue light
- Services: Architecture, Building services engineering, Principal Designer
- Key partners: Place Partnership Limited, Willmott Dixon Construction
- Contact: Dan Bridgewater – 0121 236 2236
The new Operational Communications Centre (OCC) at Hindlip Park, Worcestershire, will act as the communications hub for multi-agency work, as well as being the main communications centre for the 999 and 101 emergency services.
The facility is designed as a flexible use building to cater for the needs of the emergency services that use it.
A pivotal facility
Baily Garner has designed this new shared Operational Communications Centre at the West Mercia Police Headquarters in Hindlip. It will provide a pivotal facility for receiving and processing emergency calls and managing ongoing incidents.
The site of the new building was chosen due to its proximity to the existing police and fire service facilities within Hindlip Park. It was designed as a single storey building to reduce the impact on an adjacent listed building.
This complex building has enabled us to work closely with many aspects and departments of the police and fire services. All departments will at some stage use its facilities, and it will function as a hub for multi-agency use during an incident.
A collaborative environment
The new building has been designed to meet the 21st century requirements of collaborative blue light working through connective environments, designed around the way modern police and fire services operate.
The nature of this project has enabled us to be involved in the heart of what makes a police force operate. The building provides the facilities for the conduit between the public and operations sides of police work.
It is a flexible, collaborative environment designed with the police to give the support in which to carry out their roles and responsibilities.
Consulting multiple stakeholders
Though the design process, and using value management workshops, we have consulted and met with the great majority of the departments that make up a modern police force.
They all have individual requirements and we have worked with stakeholders to provide a functional and appropriate facility.
This exposure has given us great insight into the needs, drivers and technical standards for the future of Warwickshire and West Mercia police forces and resulted in Baily Garner being appointed to work on for other facilities for the police on this extensive site.
