Military medical and dental centre marks major construction milestone
Around 3,700 armed forces personnel and their families will benefit from the new building.
A ceremony has been held to mark the topping out of a new medical and dental centre at Leuchars Station in Fife.
The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) is managing the build on behalf of the British Army and contracted the £22 million facility to Graham Building North, which began construction in October.
The new building will replace the current medical and dental centre which was built in 1936. Around 3,700 personnel at the British Army establishment and their dependents will benefit from the new building, which will house physical rehabilitation and mental health facilities as well as GP and dental services. Leuchars Station is to become the army’s hub in Scotland, and the new building has been designed to cater for this increase in personnel .
The building has been carefully designed to be as sustainable as possible, including through thermal efficiency, solar panels, air source heat pumps and four electric vehicle charging stations. Building materials have been selected not only on the basis of suitability but also to reduce carbon impact on the environment. It is hoped that the building can be an example of sustainability in construction of future Ministry of Defence medical and dental centres.
With the structure built to its full height, attention now turns to interior works. Once the replacement facility is complete, medical personnel and patients will transition over to the new medical and dental centre and Graham will demolish the old building.