Premier Modular has provided modular buildings spanning more than 1700 sqm for the new Nightingale Hospital Exeter, completed in just four weeks
The integrated modular buildings were supplied site-ready to accommodate essential facilities for the new hospital operated by the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust.
Working as a partner to BAM Construct UK and to a significantly reduced build programme, Premier designed, reconfigured and installed five single-storey modular buildings comprising 57 steel-framed modules. This scale of the project would typically have taken around four months from receipt of order to handover.
The temporary buildings have doubled the size of the existing space in a repurposed retail unit and were fitted out on-site by BAM to accommodate facilities including the pharmacy, staff welfare, catering, utility rooms, patient transfer and stores.
The 116-bed hospital is designed to provide high-quality specialist care for seriously ill coronavirus patients in Devon, Cornwall and the wider South West region. It will also provide additional capacity by delivering safe and fast access to diagnostic testing.
The hiring of modular accommodation is a fast, flexible and cost-effective way for healthcare providers to expand capacity or relocate services, particularly on constrained hospital sites. The approach also gives NHS trusts greater flexibility as the facilities can be dismantled and removed if local needs change.
A credit to UK construction industry
Graham Kingdon, construction director at BAM, said: “The new hospital is a fantastic facility for the South West and was a tremendous effort by the whole construction team. There was an impressive collective desire and positivity throughout to make this happen and in only 57 days.
“Premier Modular rose to the challenge and were responsive to our requirements to help us extend the existing building to deliver this emergency healthcare project to a radically reduced programme.
“They were able to accommodate the client’s design changes and their site team worked well with our project managers so we could co-ordinate M&E installation and fit-out with our supply chain.”
David Harris, managing director of Premier Modular, said: “The level of collaboration on the Nightingale Exeter project to achieve such an ambitious programme was incredible and is a real credit to the UK construction industry.
“We are really proud of our teams across the business – design, production, logistics and on-site – who pulled out all the stops to reduce the modular build programme from four months to just four weeks. This has helped to create a new hospital to support the South West.”
