News Capturing the Hercules Project at RAF Lyneham
Above: RAF Lyneham from the Control Tower. One of our systems can just be seen to the bottom left.
In December 2013 Kier Construction announced it had been awarded a £121 million joint venture contract to build a new technical training college, on behalf of the Ministry of Defence (MOD). Working as a 50:50 joint venture with Balfour Beatty, under the name ‘Hercules’, Kier are now delivering the MOD’s new Defence College of Technical Training at the RAF Lyneham airbase in Wiltshire.
The new college will provide training facilities in one location for all three Armed Forces – the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force – for the first time in the UK. The scheme will provide single living accommodation for more than 1,100 trainees, purpose-built teaching facilities and a large outdoor training area. Much of the work will comprise of upgrading and refurbishing existing buildings. The scheme also includes a public museum and a new home for the Army’s Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
In June and July 2014 we installed multiple camera systems at RAF Lyneham for Kier Major Projects, to provide them with viewing platforms that allow them to monitor different aspects of the Hercules project.
We also have a camera system installed at one of Kier’s partner companies, who are manufacturing modular buildings for the Lyneham site. This camera system, at Caledonian Modular in Newark, Nottinghamshire, allows us to capture this vital aspect of the scheme of work.
At set points through the course of the project we are also shooting video, and using aerial drones on site in order to capture the complete story of the construction.
Work will be completed in autumn 2015, when we will combine time-lapse, ground and air-based photography and video to offer a complete narrative record, all – as ever – in the very best quality.
Thanks to Kier Major Projects for commissioning us to capture such an important project.