Meldrum Construction were appointed the build of the new Northumbria Health and Care Academy adjacent to the existing Hospital in Northumberland. The 8,000 square meter development was built to train a variety of professionals, focusing on Midwifery, Nursing – alongside their fellow NHS professionals.

Part of the ground floor is occupied by Northumbria Way Pharmacy and Clinic, with training facilities throughout the remainder of the building. Facilities include an immersive VR teaching space, specialist teaching spaces, conferencing suites with breakout space, meeting rooms, café/restaurant, and offices.

A drive-through Starbucks and wellbeing walking trail are also included in the scheme.

As part of this project, Surgery Developments required the building to meet the stringent environmental standard and certification requirements for BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology) with an excellent rating.

Additionally, requiring the gold standard in the WELL Building Assessment (well investigates seven concepts, air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort, and mind). The aim of WELL is to ensure that the building meets a specific health building standard.

Strict data management was essential on both certifications to ensure every detail was gathered to help attain credits that go towards the certifications.

Value Engineering

In the original scope of works there was an acoustic screen which was value engineered, saving around £300k. There was also room for value engineering on the landscaping, saving £50k.

Special requirements

Tight timeframes were set out of around £2m worth of work each month, which required unsociable working hours to open in time.