A range of former workhouse and sanatorium buildings dating back to the 1800s on an eight-acre Birkenhead site is to be replaced by a new £32 million, four-storey health centre, designed by architects One and to be built by VINCI Construction UK.
The contract for the new ProCure21 St Catherine’s Health Centre has been won by Integrated Health Projects (IHP), a VINCI Construction and Sir Robert McAlpine joint-venture, and will be delivered for NHS Wirral, with the funding partner being Prime under a model the two organisations say “breaks new ground” in NHS development funding. A Shared Investment Agreement (SIA) will enable the PCT to contribute 55% of the cost, with the remaining 45% provided by Prime. The 11,100 m2 health centre will provide facilities including physiotherapy, mental health care, women’s health, intermediate health, harm reduction, podiatry, and audiology. Two community-based GP practices will also relocate there. The building will “fan out” around the Grade II listed St Catherine’s Church, with five new colour-coded wings, mirroring the block form of a DNA profile, running from a central atrium with a glazed façade.
