Graham appointed to deliver Airedale Hospital under £37bn NHS programme
The appointment is one of 11 contractor agreements confirmed as the first wave of hospital schemes moves into the programme’s delivery phase.
Each contractor will work alongside an NHS trust through the Hospital 2.0 Alliance, which aims to standardise hospital construction using repeatable designs, modern methods of construction and centrally managed procurement.
Under the programme, around 80% of each hospital’s design will follow standardised principles, while allowing NHS trusts to tailor schemes to local clinical and operational requirements.
The other appointments made are:
- Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – Integrated Health Projects (a joint venture between Vinci Building and Sir Robert McAlpine)
- Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust – Morgan Sindall Construction
- North Manchester General Hospital, part of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust – Bovis
- Hinchingbrooke Hospital, part of North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust – Kier Construction
- Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – Laing O’Rourke
- Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust – Sacyr UK
- James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust – Skanska
- West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust – Dragados Sociedad Anonima
- Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust – Willmott Dixon Construction
The design team for Airedale Hospital is led by P+HS Architects, alongside AHR and HDR, which specialises in Hospital 2.0 design – essentially a set of design standards, and part of the New Hospital Programme approach being rolled out across the UK.
It emphasises standardised designs, digital solutions, and efficient layouts to reduce construction costs, improve patient care, and impact overall building efficiency.
The wider project team includes engineering firms Curtins and AECOM, Gleeds as project manager, and Archus advising on healthcare. AECOM will focus on energy-efficient building services, while Curtins will handle structures and highways work.
The building will have 100% single en-suite patient rooms, and social spaces on each ward to prevent isolation.
There will be larger clinical areas to accommodate modern healthcare needs and more space and improved accessibility for both patients and visitors.
Digital technology will also be central to the design, helping to both deliver care for patients and manage the building.
The Airedale General Hospital, located in West Yorkshire, was built in 1970 using unsafe reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, and has been included in the list of wave 1 projects that the government is addressing.
The long-term agreements replace project-by-project procurement with ongoing partnerships between NHS trusts, contractors and the New Hospital Programme, as the Government looks to accelerate hospital delivery across England.
