£26.5m hospital PFI for YJL Construction

Grosvenor House Group has appointed YJL Construction to design and build the new £26.5m Gravesham Community Project in Gravesend under the Private Finance Initiative.

The scheme, for Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley Primary Care Trust and Kent County Council, involves the demolition of the former hospital on the site, parts of which date back to Victorian times, and the construction of a new integrated community hospital and social care facility.

The innovative new building will be in the shape of a rhombus, with rounded sides, enclosing a courtyard garden in the centre.

The building incorporates two clinical wings, either side of the feature main entrance, which will house the community hospital services, and residential units for long and short term care.

Clinical and care services will include: a wide range of outpatient services, community dental services, phlebotomy, radiology and a minor injuries unit as well as accommodation for intermediate care, rehabilitation and respite care, a nursing and residential care home and a social services day centre.

The scheme will be a mixture of 2 and 3-storey, finished primarily in brick. Other external elements include curtain walling, timber cladding and render panels. The design has been specifically developed to differentiate between the community hospital and residential care elements of the project.

Completion is programmed for February 2006.