Integrated Health Projects has been appointed as the main contractor to construct the £100 million National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC) on the Nottinghamshire/Leicestershire border.
The rehabilitation centre will be a 70 bed facility for people recovering from serious injury or illness, and is being built next to the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre at Rempstone.
Pre-construction work can now begin on the site which is part of the Stanford Hall Rehabilitation Estate, before the main construction work gets underway. Subject to final agreements from the government it could be up and running by 2024.
Integrated Health Projects is a joint venture between Vinci Construction UK and Sir Robert McAlpine, and was selected under a Department for Health and Social Care procurement process.
The NRC is a partnership between 22 higher education institutions with the University of Nottingham and Loughborough University as the leads.
It will combine clinical rehabilitation, research, development and commercial innovation, as well as training and education.
The people behind it said its impact will be “game-changing” in terms of the quality of life potentially achievable after serious injury or illness.
Miriam Duffy, NRC programme director, said: “This is excellent news for all of us eager to see the benefits of the NRC realised and the facility become operational as soon as possible.
“IHP is a great fit and I’m impressed not just with their technical capability but with their understanding of the uniqueness of the NRC.
“We’re confident of creating a great construction partnership that will see the outstanding NRC building come to life and help us to get on with treating patients.”
Stuart McArthur, healthcare sector lead at IHP, said: “Through the 20 successful years of our alliance, we have demonstrated that we have the expertise and experience necessary to match the unique nature of this project.
“We look forward to working in close collaboration with NHP and NUH on delivering this new model of rehabilitation in an inspiring setting, which will benefit patients and staff whilst supporting leading edge research.”
The NRC has been designed to ensure it will continue to achieve net zero carbon over the entire life of the building.
It will not require any fossil fuels, and carbon-free electricity will be generated through solar panels on the site.
The building will be highly insulated to minimise energy loss and will be built using low carbon materials such as timber for its structure.
The neighbouring Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre Stanford Hall is operated by the Ministry of Defence and opened in 2018.
The NRC – which is part of the Government’s promise to build 40 new hospitals – will share knowledge and some specialist facilities with the defence facility so that both can benefit.
Alongside IHP, the NRC project team includes Ryder Architecture, Arup and landscape architects Fira.
