Kvaerner Construction leads the UK in winning design and construct Private Finance Initiative projects. Its first success came in the late 1980s with the groundbreaking Queen Elizabeth Crossing at Dartford, the country’s first PFI project.
To support the growing PFI market, the company has established a dedicated in-house team which has built a track record in working closely with clients and investors to bring PFI deals to financial closure. It also constantly develops its design and construction methods to ensure that jobs are completed faster and to a higher quality than previous projects.
For example wall units used at its prisons are prefabricated off site and include all mechanical and electrical fittings so that on site construction time is kept to a minimum, while a similar system is used at hospitals where exterior cladding panels are also constructed away from the main site.
The PFI team is currently building two hospitals - at Woolwich and Chepstow - and three prisons at Pucklechurch near Bristol, Consett in County Durham and Marchington near Derby. Recently completed projects include prisons at Nottingham and Kilmarnock, the M1/A1 Link Road near Leeds and the Tagus River Crossing in Lisbon, Portugal.
Kilmarnock Prison, Scotland
Construction Value: £32 million
Construction Commenced: November 1997
Construction Completion: April 1999
Kvaerner Construction completed Scotland’s first ever PFI prison in record time, bettering the benchmark at its first prison, Lowdham Grange in Nottingham.
Kilmarnock took its first prisoners just 16 ½ months after Kvaerner Construction started work on a derelict site outside the town. The record construction time was achieved using a specially designed and developed prefabricated building system, which includes all mechanical and electrical fittings.
Kvaerner Construction designed, built and equipped the category-B establishment which includes eight two storey wings; a chapel; a healthcare centre; an educational centre; visitor accommodation; and a major workshop complex, as well as state-of-the-art security systems.
Constructed on the site of a former army munitions base, Kvaerner Construction has significantly improved the surrounding landscape. Mounds in the land were formed, keeping the prison out of view, the whole area was landscaped and more than 13,500 trees were planted.
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For further information contact:
Tanya Barnes, PR Officer - 01923 423 905
Kristian Birkett, Press Officer – 01923 423 833