Alder Hey’s £20m community cluster set to go ahead
Liverpool City Council has been recommended to sign off plans for the £20m cluster, designed by Cullinan Studio, at a meeting next week.
The planning permission will allow contractor Galliford Try to start work on the project in the New Year; Place North West revealed the company had been chosen to build the project via the Procure North West framework in August this year.
The hospital first outlined plans for the site, next to the main hospital with Eaton Road to the north, in October 2017. This is proposed to house eight departments, which will relocate from a number of different sites in the trust’s estate across the city. These include both clinical and non-clinical services.
A community cluster building named The Hive will house mental health facilities for both children and adults, along with psychology and neurological assessment departments. A community police hub is also due to be housed in this building.
A separate building, known as the Dewi Jones Building, is to provide inpatient facilities along with support functions for children; this will be a secure inpatient mental health facility for young people aged 5 to 13, occupied Monday to Friday, with a reduced occupation at the weekends. Both buildings are linked by car parking at basement level.
The vacant buildings on the site have been demolished by the hospital, clearing the area to be redeveloped. According to the project’s initial tender documents released last year, the initial phase of the project has a total construction and design budget of £9m, and while the maximum potential contract value is £20m for all three phases, the trust said funding “is not guaranteed” at present for future phases.
The design proposals developed by Cullinan Studio were selected from a shortlist which also included Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, Penoyre & Prasad, and Reiach & Hall Architects.
