Officers enjoy new accommodation at Hampshire air base
Officers at RAF Odiham can now enjoy new high-quality accommodation thanks to a £5 million project delivered by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO).
Working with industry partner Debut Services, DIO has successfully completed the new accommodation block at the Hampshire air base.
The new facilities provide 53 bedrooms, all with en-suite bathrooms. Nine rooms will be for senior officers and 44 will be used by junior officers. In addition, the block includes laundry and drying rooms together with a small kitchen facility.
Howard Sims, DIO Project Manager, said:
“DIO’s priority is to support our Armed Forces by providing what they need to live, work, train and deploy on operations. This is another example of DIO working with our contractors to provide high-quality accommodation and other facilities for our servicemen and women. The team have worked hard to complete the project early and we hope the RAF personnel enjoy their new rooms.”
More accommodation is required at RAF Odiham due to a planned increase in personnel.
New personnel are being stationed at the base to fly and maintain additional aircraft. These include aircraft returning to the UK as part of the phased withdrawal from Afghanistan, and 14 new Mark 6 Chinook helicopters entering service later this year.
Squadron Leader Julie Mann said:
“We’re really pleased with the success of this project. The team working on the block have been great and everyone at RAF Odiham appreciates these new facilities, especially as they’ve been delivered slightly ahead of schedule.”
Mark Norton, Debut/Lend Lease Project Manager, said:
“Another SLAM block has been completed at RAF Odiham to the same high exemplary standard DIO have come to expect from Lend Lease. Our major challenge was the completion of external landscaping during the period of heavy rain earlier this year. The contractors worked in the worst of the weather to deliver ahead of time and their commitment to the project should be recognised.”
Ends
Further information:
Press enquiries to Tony Moran, Senior Communications Officer 0121 311 3879 or email tony.moran572@mod.uk
DIO website: www.gov.uk/dio
Twitter: @mod_dio
Read DIO’s blog: https://insidedio.blog.gov.uk/
Notes to Editors
1. The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) plays a vital role in supporting our Armed Forces by building, maintaining and servicing what the men and women who serve our country need to live, work, train and deploy on operations.
2. DIO is part of the Ministry of Defence (MOD). It is responsible for managing and maintaining land and properties, as well as providing related support services, to meet the current and future needs of the MOD and personnel at home and abroad, and to support current operations. Our work includes supporting operational units by providing and improving single living and service family accommodation; training areas and historic military sites.
3. DIO actively manages these to ensure the needs of Defence are met, value for money is achieved, and its heritage is protected, and to achieve its environmental goals.
4. Situated in North Hampshire, RAF Odiham is a front line support helicopter base working within the Joint Helicopter Command. The Station is primarily responsible for providing rapid mobility world-wide for the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force in support of Defence Missions and tasks. Home of the UK Chinook Force, Royal Air Force Odiham currently operates three Chinook squadrons and one Army Air Corps (AAC) Lynx squadron.
5. Picture captions – please credit ‘Crown copyright/MOD 2014’
Bedroom, bathroom and shared facilities in new accommodation block at RAF Odiham
About Debut Services
6. Debut Services is a Joint Venture company between Lend Lease and Babcock International Group and was formed in response to the MoD's Prime Contracting Initiative to implement the Egan and Latham principles and drive efficiency and best value across the defence estate.
7. Debut benefits from the proven global strength of Lend Lease, one of the world's largest real estate solutions providers, and Babcock as the UK's leading engineering support services organisation and providers of property management services. In addition to the Functional Prime Contract Single Living Accommodation for HM Armed Forces (Project SLAM). Debut is also successfully managing the Regional Prime Contract for the South West.
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