menu Search Icon Toggle search input HOMEPROJECTSGRANGE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL Experience matters: designing certainty into an ‘Exemplar Project’ THE GRANGE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL Linkedin Icon Share on linkedin Facebook Icon Share on facebook Twitter Icon Share on twitter Mail Icon Share on mail SOUTH EAST WALES, UK At a glance Client Aneurin Bevan University Health Board Duration 2017-2021 Project Partners Gleeds, BDP, AECOM, WSP As principal contractor on this award-winning, £350m project, Laing O’Rourke combined all of its past experience to design out risk and embed massive efficiency. In an engineering era where many projects see their budgets challenged as a result of unforeseen issues, this state-of-the-art, 560-bed hospital build experienced a 23% programme saving, including over 237,000 working-hours. The hospital opened with zero defects in November 2020, four months early to help the Health Board respond to winter season pressures and the second wave of Covid-19. It was made possible through the combination of best-practice experience and smart technology and included enhanced safety through our DfMA approach. Below budget, above expectations How was such a successful outcome one that was identified as an ‘Exemplar Project’ by Constructing Excellence Wales, made possible? The client's team, led by Gleeds encouraged early contractor involvement, enabled by The NHS Wales Designed for Life Framework. This created an environment in which the full hospital experience of Laing O’Rourke with their design team of BDP, WSP and AECOM was shared. Open-source collaboration created a powerful knowledge bank. Our own team drew from their on-the-ground experience of recent hospital builds, including Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and the Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary and compared notes on Liverpool’s Clatterbridge Cancer Centre. This allowed the team to take a Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) approach. Precast and prefabricated elements – from concrete columns to loadbearing insulated facade panels, and from bathroom ‘pods’ to hollowcore slabs – were designed in at an early stage, securing supply chain and programme benefits as a result. The 1,200 precast wall modules, for example, represented an on site working-hours saving of 95%. Logistics planning and design changes were managed within a comprehensive digital modelling system: purposeful technology that enabled tracking and predictive analysis of every aspect of the project, down to individual components. This ensured data was accurate from day one. Quote icon With the best will in the world, fundamentally, had this been a traditional build with the same start date we would not have been in a position to offer support to this national pandemic and the NHS. We’ve always been proud of the modern methods of construction (MMC) involved at Grange University Hospital and the programme savings which it offered compared to a traditional build but never have the benefits been more apparent than during this crisis Victoria Head PROJECT DIRECTOR, GLEEDS GWENT Laing O'Rourke - Grange University Hospital 1 2 Previus slide Next slide 1 2 Previus slide Next slide beds precast concrete elements specialist services in hospital The result The reduction of 237,000 on site working hours through the application of DfMA slashed 42 weeks from the construction timetable, giving a 23% programme saving. The project was handed over with zero defects and significantly within budget. Experience from past projects came together to influence every aspect – intelligent, data-driven planning drove an efficient logistics strategy – mitigating risk and dramatically improving project visibility for all stakeholders. The result is a hospital and specialist and critical care centre that delivers the certainty of top-level medical care for over 600,000 people in southeast Wales. Card image PROJECTS Icon clock 5 min read 23.03.21 The Grange University Hospital Rory Pollock A new critical care hospital was opened to patients in November 2020. Arrow right Read More Card image Gwent super-hospital opens four months ahead of schedule Arrow Icon Read More 1 3 Previus slide Next slide Social Media Icon Social Media Icon Social Media Icon Social Media Icon HEAD OFFICE Bridge Place 1 & 2, Anchor Boulevard Crossways Dartford, Kent DA2 6SN, United Kingdom +44 (0)1322 296200 COMPANY Projects Thinking Company Careers Contact us Media enquiries RESPONSIBILITY Sustainability Privacy policy Sitemap Modern slavery Cookie policy Brand guidelines Cookie settings © LAING O’ROURKE 2021 Your choice regarding cookies on this site We use cookies to optimise site functionality and give you the best possible experience Accept Settings