Award-winning off-site construction specialist, Yorkon, has been awarded a £2.4m construction contract at Lister Hospital in Stevenage – its second project at the hospital for East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust.
This challenging contract involves adding a new storey on to the roof of the existing cardiac catheterisation unit that was provided by Yorkon in 2004. This will double the size of these life-saving heart attack facilities, and represents a £4.5m investment for the Trust. The project is being phased to maintain use of the existing facility and keep any disruption to service provision during the construction works to an absolute minimum.
The 24-module extension has just been craned into position using a 350 tonne crane. The operation took place over a weekend to further reduce any inconvenience to staff and patients. The project also includes extensive reconfiguration works to the existing laboratory suite, provision of stairs, lift, and an adjacent modular corridor.
Due for completion in the autumn, the building will provide a range of purpose-designed facilities including a second catheterisation laboratory, clinical support areas, control room, preparation and recovery rooms, consulting and examination suites, offices, reception and waiting area.
Commenting on the project, Manu Shah, Lead Capital Project Manager for the scheme at East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, said, “This second cardiac laboratory suite will enable us to provide life-saving cardiac services locally to more people.” “Speed of construction is a key issue for the Trust, in order to have the new facility up and running as quickly as possible. The Yorkon off-site approach is much faster than traditional site-based building methods. It also requires much less space for construction, which is critical on this site as the cardiac unit is almost fully enclosed by other buildings so there is little room for the storage of materials, plant and equipment.”
The roof-top extension was installed with partitions, mechanical and electrical services, windows and doors already in place to reduce time on site by around 50%. It is targeted to achieve a BREEAM ‘very good’ environmental rating.
Yorkon is part of the Portakabin Group. www.yorkon.info
