Skanska has been selected as preferred bidder for the £165 million New Papworth Hospital which is to be built on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
Construction is to start in autumn next year on the design, build, finance and maintain Private Finance Initiative scheme which will provide a 310 bed hospital, almost all single rooms, and a research and education institute. Construction should be completed by early 2017 when the existing hospital will relocate.
The contract was won by a Skanska group consortium that includes Skanska Infrastructure Investment UK, Skanska Construction UK and Skanska Facilities Services, beating off a rival bid from a Bouygues led consortium of Bouygues UK and Ecovert FM.
The preferred bidder award marks a major milestone in the ten year process to move the world famous heart and lung hospital, which is currently split between two main building complexes, to a new single site. The project was first advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union in August 2010, since when an initial interest from six consortia was whittled down to a shortlist of three and then two.
The Hospital Trust says both final bidders presented very comprehensive proposals and the winner was selected after a robust process.
Papworth is renowned for its cardiothoracic expertise in particular, and became famous when the UK’s first successful heart transplant was carried out there. Architect’s illustrations show a landmark six storey building that will also house a Heart and Lung Research Institute, a joint venture between the hospital and Cambridge University. It is hoped it will help to attract leading clinicians and researchers worldwide to the campus, which is said to be part of the biggest biotech cluster outside the United States.
Image: Papworth Hospital - NHS Foundation Trust
