Timber Systems company wins contract for £47m Ayrshire hospital
8th July 2014

Stewart Milne Timber Systems, the build and manufacturing consultant, has been selected by Balfour Beatty, the FTSE-250 infrastructure business, to design and build a new 206-bed mental health and community hospital. Following the success of a previous partnership building Stobhill Hospital in Glasgow during 2008, Stewart Milne Timber Systems was appointed to help deliver the £47 million project, which will be located in Irvine, Ayrshire.
 
Stewart Milne Timber Systems will construct parts of the hospital offsite, which will reduce onsite cost, provide precision manufacture benefits and limit the health and safety risks inherent on a building site.
 
Offsite construction also provides the final hospital with very high standards of air tightness and thermal insulation, reducing energy bills for the NHS, which has commissioned the project.
 
Alex Goodfellow, group managing director of Stewart Milne Timber Systems said: “This a major and important new facility for Ayrshire and the surrounding area, and using timber systems in the build programme will mean the hospital will enter working use much sooner.

“Offsite manufacture as a central part of the project will allow for a faster build process, much better energy performance and less waste produced both in the factory and onsite. Meeting deadlines is a   critical element of this project, so we’ll be working very closely with Balfour Beatty throughout to ensure the hospital is delivered on time and on budget.”

Stewart Milne Timber Systems will work to a 23-week build schedule, beginning in November 2014 and expected to be complete by May 2015. To further enhance the speed of the build, several expert teams will manage a scaffold-free build onsite. The roof trusses of the hospital will also be constructed on the ground and hoisted into place by crane to reduce the health and safety risks of working at height.

The hospital will boast excellent sustainability features, with the wall panels provided by Stewart Milne Timber Systems achieving a U-Value of 0.22; roofs achieving 0.16 and air tightness of 5.

Alex Goodfellow said: “Using a scaffold-free erection and multiple erect squads will make the 23-week programme faster, safer and reduce costs.

“This is a highly innovative approach to hospital building and demonstrates the commitment of all parties involved to build a valuable new public health facility quickly, while also providing significant value for money and energy efficiency over the life of the building.”
 
The hospital will feature 140mm external wall closed panels with 120mm 0.022 polyurethane insulation, and roof trusses with 18mm plywood sarking. All internal partitions will be erected with 9mm OSB sheathing, with bathroom pods loaded in by Stewart Milne Timber Systems.