Having been appointed to deliver the Early Works contract, we were awarded the £267 million Midland Metropolitan University Hospital contract by Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust.
The hospital is a nine-floor, state-of-the-art building, and is the largest acute care hospital in the region, with approximately 700 beds for inpatients, an emergency department, theatres, diagnostic suites, labs, research and education centres. Over half a million people will be able to receive acute and emergency care from teams that will also provide paediatric, maternity, and inpatient adult care.
The new mega-structure will have a gross internal floor area of approximately 85,924m² with the completion of the external façade and all associated mechanical, electrical and plumbing services, delivered by Balfour Beatty Kilpatrick.
Driving success through innovation
To help keep the project on schedule and reduce the risk of delays, we have adopted an innovate construction progress tracking process. Across the site, the design models have been linked using QR codes to integrate with our field based digital tool, BIM 360 Field. This allows the delivery team to scan the QR code using the BIM 360 Field application and update the status of their activities. This results in work being reviewed, and status’s updated in real time - helping the team to effectively manage the project.
The team has also been using OpenSpace which has created greater efficiency, safety and value with the use of a 360° camera mounted to a pole or hard hat. The camera captures site progress providing accurate and easy retrieval of key construction activity records. Other benefits include progressive validation, timelapse analysis and encourages collaboration between all stakeholders.
internal gross floor area
inpatient beds
theatres
rooms
A collaborative partnership
From the outset we have engaged with the Trust, creating a ‘one-team’ approach. We began open discussions with the Trust to ensure that the contracts terms were right for both parties. We held weekly executive update meetings and mapped our senior team to the client’s team, showing commitment at all levels of the business and established relationships quickly. We also held weekly meetings with our senior managers and the Trust to ensure issues were resolved as soon as possible.
Rachel Barlow, Director of System Transformation Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospital NHS Trust expressed,
I have worked with the Balfour Beatty team over the last 10 months on the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital project. The very nature of this project, right from the start (fast track procurement and mobilisation due to the former contractor entering liquidation), meant that early engagement with us and throughout the supply chain was critical to getting the project back on site. Any major scheme will face challenges and Balfour Beatty’s collaborative approach is essential to the success of the project.