Skanska is set to start work immediately on the £165 million New Papworth Hospital at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus after reaching financial close to build a world-class healthcare facility.

The latest business information modelling (BIM) technology will be used in the design phase to maximise energy efficiency and ensure the hospital offers long-term flexibility.

The construction techniques used will allow reconfiguration of the hospital over time, making it fit for purpose both on delivery and for the future. The technology is also being used to engage clinicians in the construction process.

Skanska, with healthcare delivery expertise spread across its global network of projects, will provide Cambridgeshire with a hospital that is an exemplar of the facilities available to NHS patients and clinicians.

Sustainability is at the heart of the new hospital, which will specialise in cardiothoracic care. Papworth is designed to achieve an EPC ‘B’ energy rating, the first hospital in the UK to do so. Measures to reduce carbon emissions will include a large-scale ground-source heat pump system.

Terry Elphick, Managing Director, Skanska UK, said: “We will be consulting with all stakeholders throughout construction, an approach we like to take on our healthcare projects around the world, for example Barts and The Royal London, Derby City General Hospital, UCH Macmillan Cancer Centre, the Proton Therapeutical Centre Teaching Hospital in the Czech Republic and Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in the USA.”

Richard Spencer, Project Director at Skanska, said: “The stunning architecture of the new hospital will showcase a confident civic presence that will help to attract the very best staff and clinicians, and will make Papworth a treatment centre of choice, both within the UK and internationally.”