Kennedy FitzGerald Architects and Arcadis were appointed as Economic Operator and Architects for Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS) following a design competition in 2018.

The principal project on the framework was Phase 2 of the new NIFRS Learning & Development College. Phase 1 which included a new Tactical Fire Fighting Facility and Training Support Building was under construction at the time (Hamilton Architects) and has been operational since October 2019.

Located just south of Cookstown, Phase 2 of the Learning & Development College has been operational since Autumn 2024 and was officially opened in May 2025. It provides a national base for high quality standardised training and education for NIFRS and is strategically located where training facilities can be readily accessed by fire crews from all over Northern Ireland.

The client’s brief called for a number of buildings and facilities set within their own local environment and separated from each other to provide distinct training zones. The large rural site (27 hectares) meant space wasn’t a constraint but it was agreed that a compact masterplan would be efficient in terms of budget and operational journey times and would be more sympathetic to the rural context by reducing the scale of development.

The site is characterised by undulating drumlin features and before development consisted of agricultural farmland bounded by hedgerows and small wooded areas. Our design sought to retain and enhance these features and the quality of the rural environment to organise, enclose, screen and secure training facilities.

The new facilities allow Firefighters to complete realistic training in a simulated environment where hazards and scenarios can be safely recreated.

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