Yorkon News Archives

26/05/2004 – Yorkon awarded 1st NHS Procure 21 project

Portakabin subsidiary Yorkon, has been awarded its first NHS ProCure 21 project. The £1 million contract for HBG Construction is for the construction of a new two-storey facility on the roof of the existing radiotherapy building at Christie Hospital in Manchester – the largest cancer treatment centre of its kind in Europe.

Christie Hospital NHS Trust is an international leader in cancer research and development. The new modular building will provide air conditioned, purpose-designed facilities for radiotherapy services and general administration, which are being relocated to accommodate the building of a £750,000 state-of-the-art linear accelerator to be used in the treatment of cancer.

The new modular facility, which will be linked to the main hospital building, will be manufactured off-site by Yorkon at its 60-acre production centre in York. It will be craned into position as 24, nine metre long steel-framed modules above the existing radiotherapy building. This operation will be carried out over a weekend using a 500-tonne crane to avoid the need for decanting of wards and the radiotherapy department, minimising any disruption to patient care and the sensitive equipment involved in the treatment of cancer.

Scheduled for completion late summer 2004, the project is part of a £12m redevelopment programme being undertaken for the Trust by ProCure 21 partner HBG Construction. The architects are Taylor Young.

Commenting on the decision to use off-site construction, Frank Beresford, Assistant Director of Estates at Christie Hospital, said, "This project is very time critical. We needed to use fast track construction to accommodate the delivery schedule for the new equipment. The modular building method will allow us to achieve the challenging time frame without the need for decanting whilst on a very constrained site."

The ProCure 21 partnering initiative is the Government's new method of procuring buildings in the health sector and aims to achieve improvements in the time, value, predictability and quality of construction in the NHS.

The building for Christie Hospital will be among the first Yorkon buildings to benefit from the Portakabin Group's pioneering warranty package that has recently been launched. A modular industry first, the 20-year structural warranty and 5-year product warranty are part of a new and unique Customer Charter introduced to set out the Group's commitment to delivering every project to the highest quality standards.

Editor's Notes

Yorkon's pioneering 5-year product warranty covers the external fabric of the building and the 20-year structural warranty relates to the load-bearing elements. Both warranties are in addition to independent certification from the British Board of Agrément (BBA).
Yorkon has been manufacturing award-winning modular buildings since 1980. This highly innovative method of construction is an efficient alternative to traditional site-based construction, which saves time, guarantees quality and minimises disruption to patients.
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 building modules for Christie Hospital will be delivered to site by road where they will be craned into position over one weekend, ready for fitting out and handover.