Chester fire station overhaul reaches latest milestone

ISG has begun the process of demolishing the former main building at Chester fire station as a £5.5m scheme to redevelop the site reaches its third phase.

Phases one and two of the project, which began in September 2019, saw the demolition of the training tower and some ancillary buildings to the rear of the site on St Annes Street, plus the erection of a temporary fire station.

Phase three, which is now under way, will see the demolition of the main building and the construction of a 15,000 sq ft modern facility, on the 61,000 sq ft site.

The new facility will be 7,600 sq ft smaller than the previous building.

Phase four will see the construction of a replacement fire station plus a training building and a four-storey training tower. The temporary will be removed in the final phase.

An application for the redevelopment was accepted in June 2019 after the plans were initially refused in November 2018 due to concerns over the ‘siting, height and layout of the proposed development’ which some local residents claimed would have a negative impact on residential properties in the vicinity.

The amended plans were resubmitted in February 2019 to reflect local residents’ concerns.

Barton Willmore is the planner, ISG is the main contractor, Bradshaw Gass & Hope is the architect and Iain Gammack of IKG Consulting is project manager.