How we fixed it: Harrogate District Hospital upgrade

What was your approach?
To enable fast completion, 17 steel-framed office modules were built and fitted out off-site at our factory in York, then delivered and lifted on to the roof in a set sequence over a weekend when the hospital was less busy. Modules were fitted out 80% complete, including internal walls, doorsets and M&E services. An external brick-slip cladding designed to match the existing building below was fixed to the base of the modules on site.

The large size of the modules required the use of a 500-tonne crane, positioned on an access road at the front of the hospital next to the A&E department. Tight coordination was required with emergency services to ensure that module delivery and the crane’s location did not obstruct ambulance movement. As delivery vehicles approached, roughly one every hour, drivers radioed the site supervisor to ensure that access was clear.

Was sound and vibration an issue?
The lightweight modules were carefully lowered on to a prepared roof foundation platform already built by Interserve; no sound or vibration was transferred into the building below. The modules were installed in two days and Yorkon’s entire programme including fit was 13 weeks, roughly 50% faster than using traditional construction methods on this project. Fewer vehicle movements to and from site also made for quieter and cleaner construction.