Interserve, the international support services and construction group, has beaten off fierce competition to be appointed Principal Supply Chain Partner (PSCP) on a ProCure21+ project for Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust in Liverpool.

The £21.6 million 'Project Arizona' is a scheme to construct a new building housing both clinical and non-clinical accommodation with a neuro-rehabilitation unit, outpatient department, clinical trials facility and pain management clinic. The new centre is part of a five year plan to provide more services to patients with brain and spine conditions. The project is due to commence next year with completion in autumn 2014.

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Working with the architects, Gilling Dod, and using new Passivhaus principles, Interserve’s approach to this project is to use construction materials and processes that will make the finished building as energy efficient as possible. Reducing the energy consumption of the building will vastly reduce its energy costs. A variety of methods and materials are to be used to ensure a favourable result in this area. These include optimising thermal efficiency using insulation with superior u values; reducing thermal bridging; and improving air permeability.

Interserve undertook an early option appraisal, including prefabricated, hybrid and traditional approaches. The Interserve team demonstrated to the Trust that a hybrid solution would offer superior value for money, and would provide enhanced certainty of delivery. This hybrid solution created by Interserve will accelerate encapsulation of the building; minimise site deliveries; and reduce storage areas on the confined site, all with less site labour.

The option appraisal undertaken by Interserve also demonstrated how budget could be freed up by careful space planning. The scheme now provides the Trust with space for a third party tenant, creating an additional source of potential revenue for the hospital.

(CD)