Wiltshire Air Ambulance
Project of The Year 2019 Winner – RICS
CMS provided Architectural, Project Management and Quantity Surveying services to Wiltshire Air Ambulance for the design and construction of their new base at Semington, Wiltshire. During this project we worked with an established team of consulting professionals, including Rigg Construction Southern Ltd.
The new home was to allow for the Air Ambulance’s helicopter, aircrew, and charity team to work together at one base, whereas previously they were on two different sites. The new site will also still enable the helicopter to reach any part of Wiltshire within 11 minutes.
The new state-of-the-art base is a two-storey construction with an adjoining hangar of sufficient height to house the aircraft and facilitate day-to-day maintenance. The base also comprises an air approach corridor and landing pad, offices for the charity team, and a training suite including an immersive simulation room for aircrew.
Throughout the process, extensive work and negotiations were undertaken between the Design Team and associated working groups to ensure that whilst the building was functional, it represented value for money with several rounds of Value Engineering being undertaken on both scheme and design stages. This ensured that all aspects of the project, whilst using charity and public funds, could be inspected and all parties kept accountable for decisions made.
The new base is now fully operational, and all teams are immensely proud of what was achieved for the charitable organisation.
Architects: CMS Architects
Project Managers: CMS Project Managers & Surveyors
Quantity Surveyors: CMS Project Managers & Surveyors
Engineers: WSP Group
Environmental Consultants: Johns Associates
Building & Development Control Officers: Wiltshire Council
“I imagine everyone else was as completely blown away as I was. Yes, we’d seen the plans, the model, the site under construction, but nothing could have prepared me for the finished product. You and your team have delivered in spades. Well done all round. A very big thanks. We have a base of which we can all be immensely proud.”
Richard Youens, Wiltshire Air Ambulance President