Steel Frame construction marks major milestone in building of North View, Manchester
A major milestone has been reached this week at ‘North View’ as work commences on construction of the steel frame on Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust’s (GMMH) latest mental health unit.
Trust Director of Finance and project Senior Responsible Owner, Suzanne Robinson, was on site to tighten a ‘golden bolt’, with representatives from the project team being joined by clinical staff members, who will occupy the new development in North Manchester, and service users.
GMMH has received £105.9 million to invest in modern facilities with the construction of the new adult mental health inpatient unit to replace Park House on the North Manchester General Hospital site. Work on North View started in August 2022 with the new unit anticipated to be built and operational by 2024.
Once completed, the upgrade will house a purpose-built Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), eight adult acute wards and a treatment suite.
The new development will see significant improvements to patient experience, with spacious single bedrooms, each with a private en-suite shower room, as well as a variety of indoor activity areas, meeting rooms for family visiting, multiple gardens, spaces for therapeutic artwork and a café.
GMMH’s Project Director for North View, Marc Reed, commented: “It is great to see how much progress has been made on the site, with a significant amount of ground and sub-structure work already completed. The building is finally starting to take shape now the structural steel work is on site, demonstrating the overall scale of the new development. We are looking forward to officially opening this purpose-built unit to help support our service users.”
IHP, a joint venture between VINCI Building and Sir Robert McAlpine, was appointed to build the state-of-the art development. IHP and VINCI Building Regional Director, Gary Hughes, added: “We are delighted to mark what has been achieved so far at North View. We are now looking forward to delivering a first-class centre for GMMH and the local community.”
The new unit is excellent news for people needing inpatient mental health services in Manchester and forms part of a wider £600m redevelopment bid for the North Manchester General Hospital into a healthy living campus. Other elements of the wider redevelopment of 67-acre North Manchester General Hospital would include the creation of a new acute hospital, new homes, and a wellbeing hub.
Overall, the redevelopment together with new housing, would equate to a £4.5bn investment “the biggest combined investment ever made in North Manchester” according to a Manchester City Council report.
