Joint venture in UK hospital contract

A Bam and Graham Construction joint venture has been awarded a £95 million (€120.86 million) contract to build Ulster Hospital’s new acute services block, in Northern Ireland, UK.

The new block is part of the Social Care Trust’s wider redevelopment plan for the Belfast hospital, replacing the existing main ward block and other specialist acute services within the hospital.

The block will sit adjacent to the new £86 million (€109.41 million) ward facility which is also being built by the joint venture Graham-Bam Healthcare Partnership on the same complex, scheduled to be completed in autumn this year.

The new block comprises an eight-storey, 31,000m² acute services block, incorporating specialist wards, support services, assessment unit, inpatient imaging department, and a new emergency department which will have capacity for 110,000 patients per year.

The scheme has been designed to achieve a BREEAM (building research establishment environmental assessment methodology) excellent rating and will use flat slab construction to integrate the structure with its services and the clinical spaces. Bam said that the building’s high-thermal mass will reduce operational running costs, while the delivery of the structural and acoustic solutions will further support the healthcare services.