Kvaerner Construction leads the UK in winning design and construct Private Finance Initiative projects. Its first success came in the late 1980’s with the groundbreaking Queen Elizabeth Crossing at Dartford, the country’s first PFI project.
To support the growing PFI market, the company has established a dedicated in-house team which has built a track record in working closely with clients and investors to bring PFI deals to financial closure. It also constantly develops its design and construction methods to ensure that jobs are completed faster and to a higher quality than previous projects.
For example wall units used at its prisons are prefabricated off site and include all mechanical and electrical fittings so that on site construction time is kept to a minimum, while a similar system is used at hospitals where exterior cladding panels are also constructed away from the main site.
The PFI team is currently building two hospitals - at Woolwich and Chepstow - and three prisons at Pucklechurch near Bristol, Consett in County Durham and Marchington near Derby. Recently completed projects include prisons at Nottingham and Kilmarnock, the M1/A1 Link Road near Leeds and the Tagus River Crossing in Lisbon, Portugal.
Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich
Total Value: £125 million
Construction Value: £95 million
Construction Commenced: July 1998
Construction Completion: Autumn 2000
Hospital Due to Open: May 2001
This 571-bed acute general hospital is currently being designed and constructed by Kvaerner Construction on the site of a former military hospital in Woolwich, SE London. Healthcare services for the area, which are currently being provided at Greenwich District Hospital and at the nearby Memorial Hospital, will transfer to the new site when opened in May 2001.
Currently at the height of construction, the site employs 600 people many of them through the Greenwich Local Labour and Business Scheme.
Fast track building methods have meant that construction of the development is well underway. Using 70 per cent of the old hospital’s steel frame and prefabricating the external cladding off-site has saved both time and money. Most of the external building has now been completed and work has moved inside.
The design of the new hospital maintains the original concept of two and three storey buildings. Landscapers will design courtyards so that the spacious green feel of the old Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital is maintained. On-site car and cycle parking will also be provided while existing security fences and gates will be modified to give added security to the hospital and its site. At night pedestrian routes will be clearly defined and well lit.
When construction is complete Kvaerner Construction’s specialist mechanical, electrical and facilities management company, Kvaerner Rashleigh Weatherfoil, will begin a 30-year servicing contract. Operating 24 hours a day all year round, the company will manage planned preventative maintenance and repairs, communication systems, energy management, ground maintenance and waste disposal.
The new Queen Elizabeth Hospital has just been named as Health Project of the Year in this year’s PFI Awards.
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For further information contact:
Tanya Barnes, PR Officer - 01923 423 905
Kristian Birkett, Press Officer – 01923 423 833