Balfour Beatty secured a contract to deliver the new COVID-19 testing laboratory in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, on behalf of NHS Test and Trace.
Awarded through the Crown Commercial Services framework, Balfour Beatty is constructing the new 225,000 foot-square ‘Rosalind Franklin Laboratory’ which is now open and on completion will add hundreds of thousands of tests to the UK’s daily COVID-19 testing capacity.
Works include the construction of a series of laboratory “lines” within the facility as well as the associated welfare and waste management facilities to support these essential operations, with Balfour Beatty Kilpatrick providing the associated mechanical and electrical works for the new testing facility. The laboratory is being built in a modular approach to enable test processing capacity to increase whilst construction continues.
Having successfully completed the in-house laboratory at the Manchester Engineering Campus Development and the temporary NHS Louisa Jordan Hospital in Glasgow, Balfour Beatty will utilise its unrivalled knowledge and expertise to safely and considerately deliver this innovative, cutting-edge laboratory.
Mark Bullock, Chief Executive Officer for Balfour Beatty’s UK Construction Services business, said: “We are immensely proud to be bringing together our expertise from across the Group, to play a key role in delivering the next generation of diagnostic facilities.
“Once complete, the facility will be the largest of its type in the UK and one of the largest in Europe; representing a significant investment in the UK’s pandemic response infrastructure for the future and integral to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic in the immediate term.”
Works are already underway with completion expected in later this year. At peak construction, Balfour Beatty will employ a workforce of approximately 600.
ENDS
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Notes to editors:
- Balfour Beatty (www.balfourbeatty.com) is a leading international infrastructure group with 26,000 employees driving the delivery of powerful new solutions, shaping thinking, creating skylines and inspiring a new generation of talent to be the change-makers of tomorrow.
- We finance, develop, build, maintain and operate the increasingly complex and critical infrastructure that supports national economies and deliver projects at the heart of local communities.
- Over the last 111 years we have created iconic buildings and infrastructure all over the world including: the £1.5 billion A14 improvement scheme - Britain’s biggest road project; Hong Kong’s HK$5.5 billion world-class harbour theatre project for the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority; and the 12.5 mile $429 million North Metro Commuter Rail line in Colorado, US.
- Balfour Beatty’s UK and Ireland regional construction business is a leading integrator of complex, sophisticated and innovative projects that improve national infrastructure.
- Successfully delivering efficient and sustainable projects at the heart of local communities as well as those of national significance, we work closely and collaboratively with our customers to always leave behind a positive, lasting legacy and deliver benefit for the communities in which we operate.
- Significant projects in its current portfolio include includes the Midlands Metropolitan hospital contract to deliver the main construction works to the 80,000 square metre hospital on behalf of Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, the Manchester Engineering Campus Development which represents one of the largest capital developments ever undertaken by a UK higher education institution, the contract to deliver the main construction works for the 53-storey Madison Tower in Canary Wharf and the contract to upgrade baggage screening and handling systems at Heathrow Airport.
- Notable projects of the past include the foundation works at One Nine Elms in Vauxhall, a contract to regenerate a region to the south of Battersea Power Station, the renovation and extension of the Grade II listed Bristol Fry Building providing state-of-the-art mathematic facilities for The University of Bristol, the Vine Street student accommodation in the City of London on behalf of Urbanest and the Dundee railway station on behalf of Dundee City Council, forming a part of the Council’s regeneration programme and aiming to create a strong and sustainable city economy that will raise the quality of life and improve the local environment.
