Kier has handed over the new clinical buildings at Luton & Dunstable University Hospital to Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, ahead of the official opening later this year.
This is the 25th healthcare project which Kier has delivered for the NHS since January 2024, totalling over £445m, with others including Dyson Cancer Centre, Satellite Radiotherapy Centre and Golden Jubilee Surgical Centre.
Procured through the Crown Commercial Services framework, the £150m project is set to provide modern and enhanced facilities for medical staff and the people of Luton and the surrounding areas.
Spanning five storeys and 16,700 sqm, the hospital now has state-of-the-art facilities for maternity, neonatology, critical care, and theatre services.
With eight new operating theatres, the hospital will provide additional capacity and allow the re-purposing of older theatres.
The building also features two hybrid theatres, capable of delivering interventional and specialist services all in one place. The critical care facilities will allow for more beds and the maternity wards will allow for additional cot space and rooming-in facilities to support new parents.
To minimise disruption while delivering this project on an extremely constrained site, immediately next door to live and operational clinical facilities, Kier worked closely with the Trust to ensure that healthcare services continued smoothly during construction.
Kier spent three years on site
Over the three years on site, Kier implemented initiatives to minimise environmental impact and promote resource efficiency, including off-site manufacturing and the use of low-carbon concrete in the building frame and floor slabs.
The work also included an extensive social value programme, with Kier working in collaboration with the Trust, the Local Authority, Higher and Further Education providers and schools to deliver over £81m worth of social value, including over 1,000 apprenticeship weeks and over 1,000 volunteering hours.
“Much of our brilliant team who worked on this project live nearby,” said Cheryl Ward, Managing Director at Kier Construction Eastern & Midlands. “This is their local hospital, where their families have been treated and babies born, and their personal investment to leave a lasting legacy on this project has been inspiring."
Steve Bromfield, Senior Site Manager, is local to the project and was supported by the hospital following the birth of his daughter, Freya and is proud to have helped deliver this locally important project.
Community assets like this are some of the most technically complex buildings to design and construct,” said Melanie Banks, Director of Redevelopment and Strategic Planning at Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. “It takes a small army of highly skilled and inspirational leaders to bring projects like this to life.”
The new buildings are now ready to receive furniture and medical equipment as well as artwork, courtesy of the Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Charity and the fundraising initiatives of staff and hospital supporters.
