William Dixon wins £ 18 million worth “blue light centre’ contract

The new ‘blue light facility’ brings together Lincolnshire’s fire and rescue services, police force and ambulance service under one roof.

Willmott Dixon will demolish the current Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue HQ on South Park Avenue to make way for the new combined facility.

Designed by architect Norr, the new headquarters is due to open in September 2019.For Willmott Dixon, the new centre is similar to ones it has built in Blackpool, Grimsby, Birmingham, Sheffield, Newcastle, Barnsley and South Wales. All these facilities aim to generate efficiencies by having emergency service teams working together, rather than dispersed across a wide area.

Willmott Dixon regional managing director Peter Owen said: “This is part of a major transformation we are seeing in how the emergency services organise their estates to work more effectively and efficiently.”

The contract, procured under Scape’s national construction framework, represents a return to Lincoln for Willmott Dixon just weeks after it completed the town’s new £25m bus station. That transport hub followed completion of Lincoln UTC secondary school.