Survivex
In 2011, Survivex opened the doors to a new, state-of-the-art survival training facility for the oil and gas industry, the first of its kind in Scotland.
- Client: Survivex
- Year: 2011
- Size: 53,000 sq. ft
- Location: Aberdeen
- Sector: Industrial
- Scope: Architecture, Space Planning
Overview
In 2011, Survivex opened the doors to a new, state-of-the-art survival training facility for the oil and gas industry, the first of its kind in Scotland. As a specialist survival centre, the training provided at the Dyce building is crucial for the safety of offshore workers in the industry. SPACE provided architectural and interior design services to successfully deliver this exciting and vital project.
Our Approach
This was a technically challenging project for a building that serves not only as a centre of excellence for survival training, but also as the main office and headquarters for Survivex. The reception area is designed as an enticing public space linked to a café, a conference room and an auditorium, with training rooms on the first floor and a combination of cellular and open plan office space on the second. At the back of the building are the two principal training spaces in the form of grand ‘halls’ able to host large-scale training initiatives. In one hall are two deep pools for offshore survival training such as helicopter ditching in the North Sea and the subsequent life raft training needed to get people home safely, while the other boasts tall purpose-designed frames used in rope access training.
The facility has the impressive ability to simulate real life, major incident situations, using wind generators and complex lighting controls to mimic varying environmental conditions in rescue scenarios. These features and capabilities are what make it a truly unique experience for specialist training in high-risk situations. The complex nature of the facility’s requirements made for a challenging brief but one we effectively accomplished through close collaboration with the Survivex team. We’re incredibly proud of the end result and hope the building continues to serve Survivex and the local community in their critical work for years to come.