Portakabin’s rapid-response team has installed an interim building for two Cockermouth GP surgeries, which serve 15,000 patients, after their buildings were destroyed in the recent Cumbria floods.
Working over a weekend and in adverse weather conditions, the Portakabin Hire Division delivered and erected a 624 m2, two-storey building at Cockermouth Community Hospital as part of the major recovery and restoration plan. The new facility has 21 consulting rooms, offices and patient waiting areas, and will provide the GP surgeries with purpose-designed accommodation for two and a half years. Despite site constraints and challenging ground conditions, this fast-track solution ensured both GP practices were up and running in their new facility before Christmas – just 15 working days after Portakabin received the instruction. Since the floods began, the surgeries had been operating from inside the hospital. A 160 tonne crane was used to lift 22 building modules over a hedge into the highly restricted site. Portakabin also installed all data communications, a fire alarm system, and furniture for the entire building.
