Grounds breaks on The Beach Bournemouth hospital

The Royal Bournemouth Hospital recently held a ground-breaking ceremony to mark the start of construction at The Beach Building, which is scheduled to open in Autumn 2024.

The ceremony, which marked the preparation of the first of 515 pile positions that support the foundations, was attended by representatives from University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust (UHD) and the main contractor Integrated Health Projects (IHP), which is a joint venture between VINCI Construction UK and Sir Robert McAlpine.

The 23,000sqm Beach Building will be a complex hospital development spread over six storeys, containing a new maternity unit, children’s unit, enhanced emergency department and critical care unit, which will enable the Royal Bournemouth Hospital to become the major emergency hospital for Dorset.

Richard Renaut, UHD’s Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, said the ground-breaking marked a significant milestone for the local NHS and its patients.

“The establishment of The Beach Building represents significant investment and commitment by the NHS. It will be a modern, sustainable building, providing high quality facilities for our existing services, allowing our clinical teams to improve the way we deliver the services within it. 

Ian Cheung, Managing Director South, Sir Robert McAlpine, was proud that the scheme has been kept on track, despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. "This is testament to the great engagement, commitment and support from UHD, the IHP project team, and local industry. I look forward to delivering this state-of-the-art healthcare facility to serve the communities in Dorset.”

Jason Griffiths, VINCI’s Regional Director for London and South, said the project represents exactly what the IHP Joint Venture was formed to deliver.

"Through our technical expertise and leadership, our aim is to deliver this outstanding healthcare scheme using Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), constructing offsite where possible, and in a sustainable manner which minimises the impact on the environment.”

The construction work has been designed to minimise disruptions to the Royal Bournemouth site over the duration of the project. The Beach Building is and forms part of the £250m transformation of UHD’s hospitals, including investment to develop Poole Hospital as the major planned care hospital and ambitious plans for Christchurch Hospital.