Nottingham-based building services specialist, Hiltons, in partnership with Imtec G&H, has been appointed to carry out the m&e and public health services work for Guide Dogs National Breeding Centre in Warwickshire.
Guide Dogs National Breeding Centre, which has been designed by architect Broadway Malyan and is to be built by contractor Morgan Ashurst, will sit next to the existing breeding centre. The centre will provide the facilities needed for Guide Dogs to increase the number of puppies bred from 1,100 to 1,550 a year in line with its 2010 - 2020 strategy.

Hiltons will be responsible for installing the air conditioning, ventilation and heating systems. Green energy solutions will be adopted where possible including maximising natural ventilation opportunities, rainwater harvesting, heat recovery systems and the installation of biomass boilers. Imtec G&H will be responsible for carrying out all electrical work.

'As we provide people with a guide dog for life - and they could have eight dogs in their lifetime - we need to increase the 1,100 dogs a year we breed to around 1,550,' said Stephen Kirk, Guide Dogs director of operations.

'The current facilities at Tollgate House are outdated and do not have enough capacity for expansion. The new centre will be world-class and allow us to meet our challenging new 2010 - 2020 strategy aim to increase our guide dog partnerships substantially.'

'This is a great project for us to work on and we are delighted to have been awarded this contract,' said Mark Harvey, a director at Hiltons.

'The services we are providing will enable the centre to function as a state-of-the-art breeding centre and help the charity meet its targets. We are also taking the welfare of the animals into consideration to make sure they have a comfortable environment to live in.'

The project is due for completion summer 2011.