4 January 2010
The new £17.5m Eurofighter Typhoon Maintenance Facility
(TMF) at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire has officially
opened.
One of only two operational airfields left in the county, RAF
Coningsby is part of the RAF’s ‘Strike Command’ and first operated
as an airfield in November 1940.
The Design and Build project was delivered on time and on budget
in just 67 weeks under the Defcon 2000 contracting framework.
Capita Architecture’s Cambridge studio provided Architectural
Services and acted as Lead Design Consultants on the scheme on
behalf of contractors Clark Construction.
Developed as a joint venture between Germany, Italy, Spain and
the UK, the 1500mph Eurofighter was first conceived during the cold
war era as a defence against Soviet MiG warplanes. The hangar
enables specialist ‘deep maintenance’ of the aircraft and is split
into ten bays, each of which has been fitted with various
mechanical, compressed air, hydraulic and electrical equipment (the
aircraft move through each of the bays in two streams).
The completed hangar covers approximately 6960 sq m with an
adjoining 4,680 sq m annexe housing support workshops; an avionic
regional centre - for the development and maintenance of electronic
equipment used to control the aircraft; an electrical and
instrument workshop; a structures workshop; windscreen and canopy
bay; and office accommodation. The building also includes stores,
mess areas, locker rooms, showers and plant rooms as well as a 300
space car parking area close to the facility.
The design for the new TMF ensures that it can withstand
operational usage whilst adopting flexibility to accommodate
possible future upgrade. The project achieved a ‘Very Good’ DREAM
rating (Defence Related Environmental Assessment Method).
Dan Willmott, Defence Estates Operations North project manager
said: “It is testament to the collaboration of the integrated
project team that this complex project was finished both on time
and on budget – and that the customer has described the building as
‘a 21st century building for the 21st century’”