New Southampton Police HQ Gets Royal Visit

18 October 2011, 09:10 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

Princess Anne will officially open Southampton's state-of-the art new police HQ today (18th October).

Southampton Central moved into its new £32 million pound police station in March this year. The facilities centralise several policing services under one roof for the first time, aimed at improving efficiencies through departments.

The building has several green features, including:

Rain water captured and used in the WCs

Heating provided by the local geothermal facility

Lightweight stone cladding on the building, reducing the need for stone to be quarried from 450 tonnes to only 50 tonnes

Chilled beams used to provide lighting and comfort cooling (instead of air conditioning) throughout the building, thus negating the need for additional individual lamps and heating equipment

Heat loss from the building minimised by having smaller windows on the southern side of the building

The visit will include the opportunity for the Princess Royal to watch demonstrations of the work of crime scene investigation team. The Princess Royal will also meet some of the officers and staff who work in the station.

Councillor Jacqui Rayment, Chair of Hampshire Police Authority, said: “We are delighted that the Princess Royal is to officially open the new police station. The station meets the needs of the public by providing modern and efficient facilities for police services in Southampton and the surrounding area.”

Superintendent Steve France-Sargeant Southampton’s Police Commander said: “Local Police officers are proud and delighted to have such a modern facility which indicates a long term investment in policing Southampton as well as the wider force area”