Mark Gibson, Managing director – Healthcare, at Sir Robert McAlpine, looks at some of the considerable benefits that a growing arsenal of digital construction tools can bring – both to designers and builders of healthcare facilities and the end-client – be it an NHS Trust or private healthcare provider. He stresses that the data collected during project delivery can also be highly valuable to the end-user once the building has been completed.
The Spring Budget 2024 in March announced a £100 m funding package for AI, some of which will be channelled into the healthcare sector. It comes at an opportune time. Since COVID-19, there has been a distinct focus on improving both the number and quality of healthcare facilities in the UK. The Department of Health and Social Care is of course in the process of delivering a new National Hospital Programme, where this will be a huge focus. Embracing digital construction helps improve the delivery of these new hospitals and other healthcare projects. Digital tools can drive efficiency and support technical excellence throughout a build, and the data generated can underpin operations throughout the entire lifecycle of a building.
Digital construction tools improve the scale and level of accuracy possible for project delivery — something fundamental to ensuring both build quality and efficiency of delivery. Previously, project progress was assessed manually. For example, on the construction of the BEACH (Births, Emergency, and Critical care, children's health) Building at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital, this could result in individual discipline and package managers walking an 8 km site each week for our IHP team (a joint venture between VINCI Building and Sir Robert McAlpine).
However, the process has been significantly accelerated by adopting tools such as Buildots — which uses helmet-mounted 360° cameras to capture images that AI then combines with BIM, schedule data, and 3D modelling, to produce an accurate picture of project progress.
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