Offsite construction specialist, The McAvoy Group, has craned the final modules into position for a new wing at Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital in Cramlington.
The £15m project, the group’s largest healthcare scheme to date, is made up of 294 steel-framed modules covering a floorspace of 6,500sq m over three storeys.
Utilising offsite construction methods reduced the build programme by half to less than 12 months.
Robert Sanderson, deputy director of capital projects at Northumbria Healthcare Facilities Management Ltd, said: “This is a highly-complex and ambitious scheme which is being delivered to a very-tight timescale and to the trust’s stringent quality standards.
“We are looking forward to the completion of the new facilities for ambulatory care, which will bring enormous benefits for providing alternative pathways for patients needing urgent care.”
Raymond Millar, construction director of The McAvoy Group, added: “This is a very-challenging project on a live hospital site.
“We are integrating with the design of the existing hospital and using offsite construction to deliver the building to a short programme, achieve exceptional value for money, and to the required quality standards.
“The installation of the final modules is a major milestone for the project and a significant achievement for the project team in the middle of winter and on such an exposed site as this.”
The first floor of the new wing will be fitted out as part of this contract to accommodate one of the UK’s-first purpose-designed ambulatory care units, with the other two floors fitted out in the next phase of the development.
The ambulatory care unit will provide medical, surgical and gynaecology care in a relaxed and comfortable environment. It will also accommodate a fracture clinic. This will help to decongest the emergency department, allowing patients to be seen by the most-appropriate clinician earlier and offering an enhanced service for the local community.
The project features a number of innovations in offsite construction.
We are integrating with the design of the existing hospital and using offsite construction to deliver the building to a short programme, achieve exceptional value for money, and to the required quality standards
It is using larger, bespoke modules up to 14.85m long which have been specially engineered to provide a structural flooring solution that seamlessly integrates with the existing hospital building. This will meet the key requirement for efficient patient flows, removing the need for ramps and steps.
Mechanical ventilation, heating and cooling systems have been installed in the ceiling voids in the McAvoy factory in what is believed to be an industry first in the healthcare sector.
Designed by healthcare specialists P+HS Architects, working with McAvoy as principal contractor, the new wing is replicating the appearance of the existing hospital, which opened in 2015.
It will have a faceted external facade to create curved ends to the wing and will be finished in blue and white render.
Facilities will include waiting areas; interview, assessment, and treatment rooms; a plaster room with mobile X-ray; trolley bays; patient lounges; ultrasound; single en-suite rooms; a nursing station; staff rest room; clinical stores; utility rooms; and an open-plan office.
The scheme was awarded through the NHS Shared Business Services framework which facilitated reductions in procurement time and cost.
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McAvoy
Delivering adaptable temporary & permanent facilities to the healthcare sector
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