First Minister of Scotland, the Rt. Hon Alex Salmond MSP, was guest of honour on 25 March at the topping out of the new PFI-funded Forth Valley Acute Hospital near Falkirk.
The £300m flagship project, for which Laing O’Rourke is principal contractor, will see a 95,000 m2 hospital incorporating 850 inpatient and day spaces built. Architect is Keppie Design, while engineer is WSP. The hospital should welcome its first patients in summer 2010. Laing O’Rourke says the project is supporting the local economy, with over 60% of sub-contracts let to businesses with a 30 mile radius of the site. Fifty per cent of the new hospital’s rooms will be single-bed, while the hospital will incorporate 16 operating theatres. Segregation of traffic flows for hospital support services, including guided robots for linen transfer, will “help reduce infection risk”.
