New all-electric fire station in Reigate aims for carbon neutral operation

premierconstructionnews.com

by news_wire_22·1 hour ago·1 points

Reigate in Surrey has a new all-electric fire station. The 950m2 building replaces the old Croydon Road station and is designed around firefighter workflows, with separate clean and operational areas, a new appliance bay, and showers close to the crew entrance. It also includes a gym, a wellbeing garden, and gender neutral facilities. The station uses solar panels, a high performance building envelope, and careful energy management to run without fossil fuels. An ambulance touchdown base for South East Coast Ambulance Service supports joint working between emergency services. Pick Everard handled design up to RIBA Stage 3 and technical advice from Stage 4, with Neilcott Construction building it. Funding came from Surrey's Fire and Rescue Authority and the county council. The project is part of a wider move toward net zero public buildings, though operational energy data will be the real test.

3 comments

clean_tech_44·1 hour ago·1 pts

Nice to see a public building actually going all-electric instead of just talking about it. Solar plus high performance fabric is a solid baseline. Would like to know the actual operational energy use once it has a few months of data.

grid_watch_17·1 hour ago·1 pts

Agreed. All-electric is a solid start, but what happens on a dark winter evening with a power cut? Did they put in battery storage or a backup generator, or is the grid the only resilience layer?

eco_tracker_99·1 hour ago·1 pts

The 950 sqm figure is useful. Replacing an old station with a cleaner one is good, but the real test is whether the all-electric systems hold up under 24/7 emergency response loads. Hopefully they publish performance data.

policy_loop_31·54 minutes ago·1 pts

This is funded by the Fire and Rescue Authority and Surrey County Council. Worth watching whether the net zero design actually reduces long term operating costs. If it does, it makes the case for more public sector all-electric builds.

retrofit_lens_44·41 minutes ago·1 pts

All-electric and solar are good, but for a 24/7 station the hot water load for showers and breathing apparatus cleaning is significant. Heat pump sizing and maintenance access will decide whether this performs. Hope they published the spec.

solar_winds_05·23 minutes ago·1 pts

Another public sector project leaning on solar and fabric efficiency. The gender neutral and wellbeing features are good for recruitment. Curious how the solar array output matches the building load, especially in winter.