Decarbonising Healthcare - Merit Delivered Solihull Elective Hub (Operating Theatre Block)

Decarbonising Healthcare: Merit delivers Solihull Elective Hub in 14 months.

In July 2023, Merit was appointed by the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust to design and deliver a new £25 million Elective Hub (Operating Theatre Block) at Solihull Hospital. This state-of-the-art, two-storey facility includes six advanced operating theatres - three ultra-clean and three robotic - alongside essential clinical support areas and staff welfare facilities, all designed to enhance patient care and staff experience.

When operational, this cutting-edge hub is expected to deliver an additional 11,500 elective treatments annually, making a huge impact in reducing waiting times and improving patient access to vital procedures.

The Elective Hub is being delivered through Merit’s innovative FLEXI POD® product, which blends traditional construction techniques with the latest Modern Methods of Construction (MMC). By integrating offsite-manufactured PODs and Pre-Assembled Modules (PAMs) with a conventional shell and core, we are able to accelerate project delivery while ensuring the highest standards of quality and efficiency.

This project represents a significant step forward in healthcare infrastructure delivery, offering patients of Solihull Hospital access to life-changing treatments closer to home.

Client: University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
Location: Solihull
Sector: Healthcare
Project: Solihull Elective Hub
Value: £25,000,000

Key Features

Two-storey facility utilising Merit’s FLEXI POD® solution
Achieved ‘Excellence’ in all categories by the Considerate Constructors Scheme – proving Merit’s commitment to respecting the community, caring for the environment and valuing its workforce.
Six High-Quality Theatres – three ultra-clean and three robotics – to enhance surgical capabilities at Solihull Hospital.
The new facility will be Health Building Notes (HBN) and Health Technical Memoranda (HTM) compliant in line with the agreed client scope.

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Challenges and Solutions

Site constraints: tight, small size location meant that Merit had to carefully coordinate deliveries. For example, throughout the duration of POD deliveries; no other deliveries such as stone, panels, boards could take place as the team would have no space to remove the crane. This meant that all complex and stringent delivery timings had to be accounted for.

Adaptable to clients requirements: Following the design development process, the client made an additional request for security doors that had to be 2-hour fire rated, comply with the U Value and be security compliant. In light of this, Merit’s team managed to source a supplier that could meet these specifications.

Key Outcomes

Delivery of a £25m high-quality facility, encompassing six high-quality theatres, to budget.
Achieved 81% Pre-Manufactured Value (PMV): Indicates a high degree of offsite manufacturing, significantly reducing on site consumption, time and labour.
Total project duration of 14 months: Merit’s expert in-house team delivered the facility in a third of the time compared to traditional methods of construction.
Certified as Zero Scope 1 Carbon Enabled, BREEAM Excellent and EPC-A rated: The facility meets high environmental standards, and was shortlisted for the ‘Sustainable Achievement Award’ at the Healthcare Estates Awards 2024.
Health Building Notes (HBN) and Health Technical Memoranda (HTM) compliant in line with the agreed scope.