Yorkon News Archives
01/09/2005 – Yorkon Completes First Independent Sector Treatment Centre to be Built Off-site
Award-winning off-site construction specialist, Yorkon, has completed the first Independent Sector Treatment Centre to be built off-site.
The £12m Shepton Mallet NHS Treatment Centre was manufactured and fitted out by Yorkon in less than 10 months and is believed to be the most complex modular building project ever undertaken in the UK. The client's designers and project managers were Atkins.
Constructed, managed and staffed by the independent healthcare sector, the new facility has been commissioned to treat NHS patients. It is part of a major Government initiative to increase capacity in the NHS, drive down waiting times and extend patient choice. The centre will carry out more than 11,000 operations per year, for procedures such as cataract surgery, hip and knee replacement and general surgery.
Facilities at Shepton Mallet include 34 in-patient beds, four operating theatres, an endoscopy suite, 18 day-case beds, an out-patient's department, medical imaging department equipped with an MRI scanner, ultrasound and general x-ray, physiotherapy suite, café and teleconferencing for on-site training.
Commenting on the completion of the new surgical facility, Paul Whiteside, Chief Executive of UK Specialist Hospitals, said, "We are absolutely delighted that the facility was completed on time and within budget. The treatment centre has been designed and built to the very highest specification and we have installed the very latest in medical technologies, to ensure the delivery of the best treatment for our patients."
Keith Blanshard, Director and General Manager of Yorkon, said, "This scheme is excellent news for the people of Somerset and North Dorset. To complete a hospital of this scale and complexity in less than 10 months is a major achievement, not just for the project team but for the construction industry as a whole. We believe it is unprecedented in the NHS and is a real credit to everyone involved."
The two-storey building was manufactured off-site at the 60-acre production centre in York and craned into position as steel-framed modules up to 14m long. It features roof glazing above the waiting area, western red cedar cladding panels between windows and timber brise soleil to offer shading from the sun. Yorkon was also responsible for demolition works, landscaping and fitting out.
Yorkon, a subsidiary of Portakabin, has now been awarded its second contract to build an ISTC. The £6m contract is for a new treatment centre at St Mary's Hospital in Portsmouth.
Editor's Notes
- The Shepton Mallet Treatment Centre was developed by an international consortium, which included the New York Presbyterian Healthcare System, OR International – a US-based developer of speciality surgical hospitals, and project managers, Atkins.
- The centre is sponsored by five primary care trusts – Mendip PCT, Taunton Deane PCT, South Somerset PCT, Somerset Coast PCT and North Dorset PCT.
- Yorkon's award-winning modular building system is an efficient alternative to traditional site-based construction, which saves time, guarantees quality and minimises disruption to existing operations and the local community.
- Modular building involves the manufacture of steel-framed modules in a factory environment, using production line technology, whilst the foundation works are completed on site. The modules are delivered to site by road where they are craned into position in just a few days.
- Atkins plans, designs and enables the delivery of complex infrastructure and buildings for clients in the public and private sectors across the world. Atkins is the largest multi-disciplinary consultancy in Europe, the largest engineering consultancy in the UK, and the seventh largest design firm in the world. www.atkinsglobal.com
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