Royal BAM : Southampton University NHS appoints hospital’s original builders to create intensive care facilities

[Attachment]

Hemel Hempstead, 16 August 2019 - Southampton University NHS Trust has appointed contractors to deliver its £22 million brand new intensive care facilities - and it is the same firm that created the original hospital in 1973.

The new facilities - an extension and refurbishment of the general intensive care unit - together with specialised plant equipment and some fit out works - will be delivered by BAM Construction.

The company is part of the worldwide Royal BAM Group, which is 150 years old this year. It worked extensively on the original hospital buildings back in 1973 when (under its then name of Higgs and Hill) it created the East Wing, Centre Block, and South Block.

BAM has revealed old photographs of the original works to celebrate its return to the site 45 years later. Since building its first hospital in London in 1875, BAM has built more than 400 hospital schemes around the UK.

The new works are now underway, and were procured competitively via the Government's healthcare framework.

BAM's project manager is Matt Crookes, who last year won a Construction Manager of the Year award among a field of hundreds. He said: 'How things have changed in the 45 years since we created the original buildings. We now have tools like virtual reality, drones, robotics, and a sophisticated computer modelling technology that allows us to work collaboratively with our clients, designers and sub-contractors. Safety is immeasurably better, and we control and measure our environmental impact so that we build as sustainably as possible. People on site have much better lives and there is a real diversity of talent in our industry.'

Southampton is no stranger to buildings that BAM has created during its 150 years.

Just after the war it created a sea transport store for the Ministry of Works. During the 1960s and 1970s, it delivered a series of works to create the freightliner terminal for British Rail. And in the 1980s it created Southampton's crown and county courts. It also created the Southern Echo's headquarters in 1995. In the past twenty years, it has delivered three major schemes for the University and is currently completing its Centenary building.

The new intensive care works will be complete in spring 2021.