Fast-paced Portsmouth project finished in 28 weeks

Modular building provider, Wernick, has completed a new 72-bed building at Portsmouth’s Queen Alexandra Hospital for Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust. Providing urgently needed treatment and recovery areas, the £8.2 m building took just 28 weeks to complete, from design to handover. Rakesh Sandhu, head of Sales at Wernick Buildings, discusses this fast-paced project, and the advantages of the modular building method to the healthcare sector. 

As one of the busiest metropolitan hospitals in the South of England, Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth was in urgent need of expansion to accommodate an enlarged patient base. Proposals for the redevelopment of the hospital included the construction of a state-of-the-art £58 m Accident and Emergency Department and a new multi-storey car park. However, the most pressing need for the hospital was additional ward space, to be used primarily for supporting patients recuperating from head injuries or strokes. The new specialist unit would free up much-needed general ward space within the main hospital.

Wernick worked on a building solution for the project which maximised the amount of fit-out that would take place in the factory, dramatically reducing the amount of time needed on site, and limiting disruption to patients and staff. In just 28 weeks, the hospital received 2992 m2 of new clinical space – 15 four-bed wards and 12 single-bed wards with en-suites spread across two floors. An architecturallyled external façade design provides an aesthetically pleasing building which blends into the surrounding area