Property and construction consultancy Gleeds has been appointed as project and cost manager, joining principal contractor Laing O’Rourke, to deliver the £350 million Specialist and Critical Care Centre (SCCC) in Llanfrechfa, Wales, for the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board.
The announcement follows the approval of the Full Business Case by the Welsh Government at the end of 2016. The 470 bed, 55,000m2 new build hospital will provide complex specialist and critical care treatment for over 600,000 people in South East Wales, and includes a 24 hour acute assessment unit and emergency department.
The Laing O’Rourke/Gleeds team will be using the latest Building Information Modelling technology (BIM level 2) to bring the scheme to fruition, with completion scheduled for spring 2021.
Director for Gleeds in Wales, Simon Williams, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have reached this important milestone with the official sanction marking a turning point for the project. Having worked with the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board since 2007 through the development of the business case process for Welsh Government approval, we are best placed to drive this project forward to deliver a much needed state-of-the-art specialist facility for the area.”
Head of UK Construction at Laing O’Rourke, Liam Cummins, added: “We look forward to working in partnership with the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board to deliver this Specialist and Critical Care Centre for the people of Gwent. We’re privileged to be working on such a prestigious project for Wales and we’ll be applying all of our expertise in this area such as innovative engineering, our Design for Manufacture and Assembly approach and delivering to the highest possible quality.”
The Specialist and Critical Care Centre is a significant element of the wider Clinical Futures Programme, through which Aneurin Bevan University Health Board is developing its integrated health care provision, from community and primary care services all the way through to specialist and acute services.
Judith Paget, Chief Executive of Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, said: ““The SCCC is a major part of delivering our Clinical Futures Strategy and everybody associated with the Health Board is extremely excited about this state-of-the-art hospital which will help us to provide 21st Century healthcare for the people of Gwent.
“We have fantastic support from local people living in the Health Board area as they understand the benefits this new hospital will bring. We now look forward to working with Gleeds and Laing O’Rourke to make the plans for this new hospital a reality, with work on the building’s foundations beginning this summer.”
A period of market benchmarking is currently being carried out to validate the construction prices with Welsh Government before enabling works begin on site in August 2017.
