The Christie picks Interserve for £150m Paterson replacement
The Christie has chosen Interserve as principal contractor for its £150m replacement for The Paterson Building which was severely damaged by a fire in April 2017.
The building was ravaged by a fire last year which left it unusable, and following the incident many of the building’s staff were relocated to Alderley Park. The Christie had explored repairing the building but concluded either keeping the building in its current state or refurbishing it would not be feasible.
As a result, the hospital has partnered with Interserve to deliver what it hopes to be “one of the world’s top five cancer research centres”.
According to The Christie, which is working alongside the University of Manchester and Cancer Research UK on the project, site surveys will be taking place in the coming weeks to inform early stage works on a replacement building, while new hoardings have gone up around the site.
A planning application for the demolition of the fire-damaged building has already been lodged, and subject to approval, work will start next month with demolition to complete in May 2019.
The project team said there was “a pressing need to commence demolition of the building to prevent further deterioration of its condition over the winter months” and to “minimise unnecessary maintenance costs, health and safety risks, and security vulnerabilities”.
Works will also include reinstating elevations of adjacent buildings, which are due to be retained, while there will also be temporary fire escapes built along with a temporary vehicle access to Wilmslow Road.
The final design for the replacement building is still being worked up with the project team, which will be showcased at a public consultation once design work is complete. The project value has not yet been disclosed but it is understood to be in the region of £150m. Completion is pencilled in for 2021.
Interserve will carry out the demolition alongside its subcontractor PP O’Connor in its role as principal contractor; this was procured through the ProCure22+ framework. Turley is providing planning, EIA, and strategic communications advice on the project.
The Christie said: “We know that by having doctors, nurses, researchers and scientists all working together in one building accelerates the development of cancer research through to patient care. We need to act quickly to bring our staff back to Withington to enable them to develop new treatments faster, meaning better outcomes for our patients.”
Interserve also recently completed The Christie’s Proton Beam Therapy Centre at the site in Withington; for its work on the project, the contractor scooped the award for Building of the Year from the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, having been picked ahead of the likes of Mackie Mayor, No1 Spinningfields, and the Ordsall Chord.
