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Education

University Of Kent- Ballistics Range

In partnership with ECC, Actiform designed, manufactured, and delivered a specialist modular facility for the University of Kent — housing a state-of-the-art experimental ballistics range to advance forensic science teaching and research.

Expertise
  • Specialist modular facility design
  • Ballistic containment and safety engineering
  • Off-site manufacture for high-performance environments
Deliverables
  • Purpose-built modular ballistics range
  • Anti-ricochet lining, rubber bullet trap & remote firing system
  • Specialist ventilation, acoustic treatment & projectile detection

The University of Kent's School of Natural Sciences required a facility capable of safely housing live ballistics experiments — a highly specialist brief demanding precision engineering, strict safety systems, and compliance standards far beyond a standard modular build. The solution needed to support undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, active research, and third-party forensic testing, all within a live campus environment.

Challenge

Solution

  1. 01/

    Challenge

    Live firing experiments demanded fail-safe containment — with no margin for error on a working university campus.

    Solution

    Actiform integrated an anti-ricochet internal wall lining, a purpose-designed rubber bullet trap at the target end, and a remote firing system that allows safe operation during all live tests. The facility was manufactured off-site to exacting standards, minimising disruption to the campus during installation.

  2. 02/

    Challenge

    Fired ammunition generates chemical residues and acoustic impact that require active management to protect users and neighbouring spaces.

    Solution

    A specialist ventilation system was engineered to safely extract chemical residues from the firing environment, with acoustic treatment and ballistic containment systems designed to contain sound and energy within the range. All systems were integrated into the modular structure during manufacture.

  3. 03/

    Challenge

    The facility also needed to function as a forensic science research space, not just a firing range — requiring sensitive scientific equipment to be incorporated alongside safety-critical infrastructure.

    Solution

    Sensitive projectile detection equipment for measuring trajectory and velocity was installed alongside a dedicated comparison microscope space for forensic bullet examination, giving students and researchers a fully equipped environment for both live experimentation and analytical work.

Our Approach

Actiform delivered the scheme in partnership with ECC via modern methods of construction, combining the speed and precision of off-site manufacture with the exacting requirements of a security-sensitive, specialist facility. The modular approach was central to the project’s success — enabling complex systems to be integrated in a controlled factory environment before installation on campus.

The completed facility supports core forensic science modules including Firearms and Ballistics and Introduction to Ballistics, while also opening the door to external collaboration with forensic service providers, law enforcement agencies, and academic partners.

The Results

£290kProject value

1First-of-its-kind modular ballistics range on campus

4Specialist use cases supported