Consulting firms win places on £600 million Leeds hospital programme

Six consulting firms have been awarded places on a construction programme for the NHS. The scheduled work is due to begin in 2023, with a new adults’ hospital and a facility for Leeds Children’s Hospital in the plans.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is an NHS hospital trust in Leeds, West Yorkshire. Founded in 1998, its locations now include Leeds General Infirmary; St James's University Hospital; Chapel Allerton Hospital; Leeds Dental Institute; Seacroft Hospital; and Wharfedale Hospital.

As the trust prepares to modernise its services for changing demand, it has announced plans to create a major new facility. The £600 million programme will aim to transform healthcare facilities for patients and staff in Leeds and the wider region. The plans will include a new state-of-the-art adults’ hospital and a new home for Leeds Children’s Hospital, providing facilities for children, maternity and ambulatory care at the current Leeds General Infirmary site. Digital design and modern methods of construction, such as integration of Design for Manufacture and Assembly techniques, are set to be used on the scheme.

To help deliver the ambitious goals of the programme, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has tapped the services of six professional services firms. Engineering consultancy Arup takes on the role of client civil and structural technical advisor. Fellow consultancy Mott MacDonald has also been appointed as the mechanical and electrical technical advisor. It will provide sustainability and digital advice. Elsewhere, Arcadis has been named as cost manager on the project.

Architecture specialist BDP has been named as preferred bidder to lead the design of the redevelopment programme. Meanwhile WSP has joined the project as civil and structural designer, and as the mechanical and electrical designer, and will provide specialist net zero, sustainability and digital design advice. Finally, MJ Medical has been brought in to advise on medical equipment.

Reports from Construction News have noted that BDP’s first design concepts propose a circular hospital structure, with a large island garden and play deck at its centre. Outdoor space and play areas were some of the facilities that children and young patients suggested in a design competition held last year. With the early design documents released in 2020, the project's construction start date is understood to be in 2023, while the main hospital is hoped to be finished three years later.