Two of the country’s biggest construction firms will go head to head for a £288m PFI children’s hospital in Liverpool

Balfour Beatty and Laing O’Rourke have been shortlisted for the new PFI Alder Hey Children’s Health Park project in Liverpool. The work will involve replacing 100-year-old wards with modern paediatric facilities.

Balfour Beatty has teamed up with architect Anshen + Allen, while Laing O’Rourke has teamed up with Interserve and architect BDP.

Richard Glenn, Alder Hey’s project director, said: “We are delighted two such major organisations want to work with us to deliver what will be a tremendous facility.”

Final tenders have to be submitted by March 2011 and work will start in April 2012.