South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust has appointed the GRAHAM-BAM Healthcare Partnership, a joint venture between GRAHAM Construction and BAM, to deliver Ulster Hospital’s new £95 million Acute Services Block – currently the largest live healthcare project in Ireland.
The Acute Services Block is part of the Trust’s wider redevelopment plan for the Belfast hospital,
replacing the outdated existing main ward block and other specialist acute services within the wider
hospital estate. This building will sit adjacent to a new £86 million ward facility presently being
constructed by GRAHAM-BAM Healthcare Partnership on the same complex, scheduled to complete
in autumn this year.
The GRAHAM-BAM Healthcare Partnership was appointed to the four year, £185 million
construction framework in 2013. It has now been appointed as main contractor to deliver the
second facility – an eight-storey, 31,000 sq m Acute Services Block, incorporating specialist wards,
support services, assessment unit, inpatient imaging department, and a new emergency department
which will have capacity for 110,000 attendances per year.
The scheme has been designed to achieve BREEAM Excellent and will use flat slab construction to
integrate the structure with its services and the clinical spaces. The building’s high thermal mass will
reduce operational running costs and the delivery of the structural and acoustic solutions will further
support the healthcare services.
Hugh McCaughey, Chief Executive of the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust said: “We are
investing heavily in our modern and fit-for-purpose facilities so we can give our patients the best
possible treatment. The redevelopment of the Ulster Hospital will enable us to implement a new
service model with future focus on the management and treatment of acutely ill patients within the
hospital setting. We’ve appointed GRAHAM-BAM Healthcare Partnership to the second phase of our
redevelopment programme because of their extensive skills and expertise within the medical field,
which we believe are pivotal when creating a specialised high-quality scheme.”
Peter Reavey, Director, at GRAHAM-BAM Healthcare Partnership said: “This is a state-of-the-art
building designed to provide specialist care at the highest level, from operating and post-operative
care facilities to high tech containment laboratories. We will be drawing on our strong track-record
of delivering world-class medical facilities as we prepare to start the 39-month construction
programme, which is expected to complete in summer 2019. We look forward to working closely
with the Trust and delivering this important facility for the area to the high standards they – and we
– expect.”
GRAHAM-BAM Healthcare Partnership is already working on the first phase of the hospital’s
redevelopment programme. The current seven-storey new build Inpatient Ward Block will
accommodate a procedural area on the ground floor with four upper floors of 288 en-suite
bedrooms within 12 inpatient wards. The 30,000 sq m development has been designed to achieve
the highest building and infection control standards. It has won several awards, the most recent
being the Considerate Constructors Scheme Gold and Considerate Constructors Scheme Most
Considerate Site National Runner Up for 2016, and the Green Apple Award.