Major new £32m St Catherine’s Health Centre reaches financial close through Procure 21
One Ltd has secured a major new NHS contract to be delivered under the existing Procure 21 framework by VINCI Construction UK. Clients NHS Wirral and funding partner Prime plc have successfully reached financial close on the major new £32m St Catherine’s Health Centre, which has also used an innovative new funding model to combine NHS capital and private finance.
The substantial 11,100 m2 four storey centre will replace a range of former workhouse and sanatorium buildings dating back to the 1800s, which are no longer fit for purpose. The health centre will bring a wide range of new services to the site, as well as providing state-of-the-art facilities for the existing NHS clinics and teams including physiotherapy, mental health care, women’s health, intermediate health, harm reduction, Wirral Heart Support, podiatry and audiology. Two community based GP practices will also relocate to the building.
The new health centre building fans out around the Grade II listed St Catherine’s Church with five new colour coded wings mirroring the block form of a DNA profile, running from a central atrium, to create an intuitive building that, despite its size, is easy to navigate from any point. The atrium in form has a full four storey high glazed façade, and in function makes the transparent building open and welcoming so that patients and visitors are drawn in from the outside, whilst occupants benefit from strong levels of natural light.
Matt Tebbatt, Director at One, added: "We were able to use a decade of experience designing for the NHS, to deliver a solution for the site that the client felt really worked. The building naturally flows across the site, puts St Catherine’s Church back at the heart of the development and opens up a wide range of public realm space for visitors and the wider community to enjoy.”
Also featured in Building Design, click here for details.
