Northumberland-headquartered Merit, which claims to be ‘the UK’s leading industrialised construction and digital manufacturing specialist’, has been appointed by University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust Foundation to design and deliver its new Elective Hub (Operating Theatre Block).
Piling commencement and foundations works have begun, and Merit says the use of ‘advanced 4D BIM modelling technology and an innovative product-based approach’ mean its specialist team can deliver both offsite and on-site works for this facility in parallel, for ‘a faster, more cost-effective project schedule with sustainability in mind’.
A ‘first-of-its-kind’ for the business, the £25 m NHS project will see it provide a two-storey building encompassing six high-quality theatres (three ultraclean and three robotic) and supporting services, to increase capacity for elective procedures at Solihull Hospital, resulting in an estimated additional 15,000 treatments annually.
Merit’s team, which includes over 90 Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) specialists, will utilise the company’s FLEXI POD V5.1 Healthcare ‘platform upgrade’ to deliver the facility. FLEXI POD is hybrid solution, ‘comprising aspects of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) for the shell and core, and a digitally manufactured offsite fit-out facilitated through a POD and Pre-Assembled Module (PAM) strategy’. Leveraging an offsite approach will allow the hub’s completion by May 2024, with the project delivered in just 10 months from start on site, including concept design and planning and commissioning. Merit will manufacture 81% of the new hub off site at its Cramlington facility. The new Elective Hib has been designed to BREEAM ‘Very Good’ rating and, is zero Scope 1 Carbon enabled.
Merit’s CEO, Tony Wells, said: “With waiting lists are at record highs, we are really proud to be supporting the NHS with this landmark contract, which will allow a significant number of people access to the treatment they need. This is the first NHS theatre we will be delivering, and another milestone in our own progress and development, which has seen Merit disrupt the traditional construction approach. We have re-invented our entire company around a proprietary integrated product platform so we can design and manufacture technically complex facilities in our Cramlington-based factories to deliver repeatable successful project outcomes – from faster timescales to cost certainty and sustainability.”
