Bradford Royal Infirmary

Portakabin won the £9m contract to design and build the new three-storey healthcare facility at Bradford Royal Infirmary. The project is believed to be the UK’s largest single hospital scheme to be built using off-site construction. It represents a total investment of around £15m for the Trust, including equipment and other associated costs.The 4,950m² facility accommodates three new state-of-the-art 28-bed wards and six general operating theatres, with a full-height glazed link to the main hospital and three ambulance bays.

Beverley Routh, Project Director for the scheme at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, says: “Despite the confines of a very tight site, the design has met the Trust’s functional and aesthetic requirements with a remarkable degree of flexibility. It is proving to be a splendid new facility.”The building was constructed from 123 steel-framed modules, measuring up to 14m in length. These were manufactured off-site at the Portakabin production centre in York and craned into position on site. The building was clad in York stone to complement the surrounding local architecture.David Jackson, Chief Executive of Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, says: “The off-site approach significantly reduced construction time, bringing benefit to thousands of patients who are waiting for surgery, whilst also minimising disruption to patient care during the building process. Portakabin has a wealth of experience in the healthcare sector and its design for this scheme has provided us with a highly flexible and quality patient facility to help us meet the Government’s tough waiting list targets.”