Research building delivered in 26 weeks

Here the company’s business development manager, David Jupp, describes how a hybrid off-site building system overcame the demanding site requirements during construction of a new medical research centre at Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI).

In many cases today an upgrading or extension of existing estate facilities is needed to accommodate the new technology continually being introduced in the healthcare sector. Patients themselves are also expecting a certain level of care, all of which is resulting in a need for modern hospital buildings. Combined with this is the fact that many hospitals have simply outgrown their original site. In most cases, these estates were constructed long before the modern technology we have today, and it is thus often easier and more cost-effective to build new, or to extend, than to upgrade. In the majority of instances these estates were built in an age where a hospital served only its local population, but with many hospitals now serving as national, and international, centres of excellence, and offering the very latest techniques, the scope of services often drives estate developments. In the case of Manchester Royal Infirmary, the new medical research centre building was commissioned in collaboration between Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CMFT) and ICON, a global provider of outsourced development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries. The new unit will help further early-stage clinical development, creating a world-class translational medical facility at the CMFT campus. The building is joined onto the existing MRI facility, and will eventually be handed over to the hospital. The two-storey, 34-bed unit includes a sample handling laboratory, 24-hour medical cover, pharmacy, contiguous access to the accident and emergency department at the Manchester Royal Infirmary, and local bioanalytical support. Also incorporated are four fully environmentally controlled pharmacodynamic testing suites, where ICON carries out modelling of complex pathologies in clinical areas such as neuropathic pain, anxiety, and cognitive degeneration. The decision on the optimal construction method for the new ICON unit was taken after weighing up many factors – for example the effect that the building work would have on the MRI, which would have to remain fully functional throughout. To keep ongoing disruption to a minimum, and create a fully operational unit for ICON, the client had set a 26-week build schedule. Site-specific issues such as an access road on a blue light ambulance route, and being adjacent to the MRI’s busy X-ray department, all had a bearing on the final decision on the type of construction system chosen.

Overcoming complex issues