Interserve, the international support services and construction group, has begun the second phase of construction of new facilities in Plymouth that will benefit military personnel and veterans undergoing recovery.
Marking the occasion, the co-founders of Help for Heroes, Bryn and Emma Parry, have laid the foundation stone of the new ‘Endeavour Centre’, which is part of HMS Drake’s larger Naval Service Recovery Centre. Help for Heroes is supporting the construction initiative with a £21 million commitment.
When completed, the Naval Service Recovery Centre will consist of two purpose-built facilities: Endeavour Centre, a recovery complex offering state-of-the-art rehabilitation equipment; and Parker VC, a specialist adaptive accommodation facility with 60 DDA single rooms and six family rooms.
The accommodation facility is being built on a brownfield site, and Interserve has had to clear a high number of below ground structures during the groundworks phase. The company has also installed a series of twenty bore holes to accommodate a ground source heat pump. The building is a steel frame construction with composite floor, Metsec inner leaf and Forticrete outer leaf, featuring brick for its upper three floors and composite aluminium and timber windows.
At the recovery complex Interserve’s groundworks include remediation of land contaminated with hydrocarbons, metals and some asbestos fibres. The complex will consist of three buildings incorporating a gym, consultation rooms, a social area for veterans and a hydrotherapy area with changing facilities. A twenty five metre six-lane competition pool will be located here, featuring a floor that can be raised or lowered according to need. The pool’s floor will be made of low density material to enable it to float if required. The recovery complex is also steel frame construction. It will have powder coated aluminium windows and its walls and roof will be clad in a Euroclad standing seam system.
Commenting on the project, Richard Ellis, Regional Director at Interserve, says: “It is an honour and a genuine privilege to be involved in the construction of such a worthwhile venture as the new Endeavour Centre. To know that our efforts are going to support and benefit members of the services is extremely gratifying.”
Bryn Parry, CEO and co-founder of Help for Heroes, said upon laying the foundation stone at the Endeavour Centre: “It’s fantastic to see how much the Endeavour Centre and Parker VC have come on since we launched the project earlier this year.
"The Recovery Centre will provide those who have suffered life-changing injuries as a result of their service with the very best support they need, for life. The facilities have been made possible thanks to the generous efforts of our wonderful supporters. We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has helped make this possible and we look forward to opening all the facilities next year.”