The Department of Health has announced the preferred contractors for the construction and supply of equipment for two proton beam therapy (PBT) centres which are to be built in the UK. The building of the centres will start this summer at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) and The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, funded by a £250 million government investment.
Varian Medical Systems has been named as the equipment supplier for both centres, Bouygues UK – as the building contractor for UCLH and Interserve Construction Ltd at The Christie.
The National Proton Beam Therapy Programme is focused on providing UK-based care for NHS cancer patients who need this highly specialised form of treatment. At the moment, people who would benefit from proton beam therapy need to travel overseas for treatment.
CampbellReith was selected to provide structural, civil, geotechnical and environmental engineering services for the UCLH PBT centre. This will be part of a facility based on Grafton Way and Huntley Street. The state of the art facility, consisting of the proton beam therapy centre below ground and five floors above ground, will offer other services as well: the floors above ground will be used to develop Europe’s largest haematological inpatient medical facility and a short stay surgical unit.
Representing one of only two unique facilities being built in the UK at present, the project presents many engineering challenges which have needed to be overcome in order to meet the stringent clinical needs of the medical specialists and the equipment suppliers. Not least of these is the requirement to construct a 26m deep basement in central London, immediately adjacent to one of the capital’s major thoroughfares, Tottenham Court Road, and in close proximity to London Underground’s Northern Line tunnels. Another challenge is the need to deliver a rigid, dimensionally stable structure capable of supporting individual items of equipment weighing in excess of 200 tonnes.
CampbellReith’s Andrew Tullett, the partner responsible for the company’s contribution in the programme, said: ‘We are delighted with the announcement that Bouygues UK and Varian have been selected as preferred providers for the UCLH proton beam therapy centre.
As consulting engineers, CampbellReith has been involved with this ambitious project since 2010. During the competitive dialogue process, the client and design team have formed a very positive working relationship with both Bouygues UK and Varian and we look forward to building on this as we work together to deliver this important facility.’
For further information please contact:
Andrew Tullett
Partner
T: (0)20 7340 1700