The Secretary of State for Health, Mr Frank Dobson, has today (Monday 6th July) announced the award to Kvaerner Construction of the design, build and operate contract, valued at £95 million, for the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich for Greenwich Healthcare Trust.
This follows the award last week to Kvaerner Construction of the PFI contract for Pucklechurch Remand Centre and YOI near Bristol.
Under this 30 year PFI deal Kvaerner Construction will design, construct and maintain the 571 bed acute general hospital in Woolwich, S.E London. The scheme involves the demolition of a large part of the existing ex-MoD facility, a major new build element and the complete refurbishment of the remainder. Work has already commenced on site and is due to complete late in the year 2000.
Today’s announcement is the culmination of three years of negotiations and consultations. The Kvaerner team has worked in close partnership with the Trust to define and refine the hospital design and its operational capabilities to meet the ongoing demands on healthcare into the next millennium.
Kvaerner Construction is the main contractor and has employed The George Trew Dunn Partnership as architect for the project.
Several other Kvaerner companies are also involved. Structural design for the main hospital will be done by Kvaerner Technology, with consulting engineer Allott & Lomax acting as designer on the associated mental health facility.
Mechanical, electrical, public health and I.T. installations are being designed and installed by Kvaerner Rashleigh Weatherfoil who has employed Capita Greatorex to supply design support. Kvaerner Rashleigh Weatherfoil will also be providing full Estates Facilities Services under a 30 year agreement as part of the PFI contract.
Kvaerner is also part of the jointly owned concession company, Meridian Hospital Company. The other partner is Innisfree Partners.
Of low rise construction, the project will reflect the spacious and "green" feel of the original building. Existing and new structures will be clad using an aluminium panel system to fully integrate the appearance of the retained and new buildings.
The scheme is intensively serviced and incorporates CHP, high voltage distribution, HVAC, IT and highly specialised medical systems with a value of £32 million.
The finalisation of the agreement for this PFI hospital scheme, the second for Kvaerner Construction, following the award of Chepstow Hospital earlier this year, closely follows the financial close on the company’s third private prison contract, and brings the total value of signed Private Finance Initiative building contracts for Kvaerner in the UK to £200 million.
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