Demolition contract will start after Easter

Squibb has landed one of the first major contractor package in the government’s decade long 40-hospital building programme.

The Essex-based demolition specialist has been picked by Barts Health NHS trust to carry out preparatory works at the site that will be home to the new Whipps Cross hospital in London.

Whipps Cross

The existing Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone

The trust said Squibb will be on site shortly, with hoardings going up this week.

The firm’s initial work will include setting up site offices, ongoing ground surveys and cutting down diseased trees.

Main demolition work on the site’s former nurses’ accommodation will begin after Easter on 12 April with those buildings slated for the wrecking ball due to be torn down by the end of the year.

Aecom is the project manager on the project, while the tender process for the main contractor is due to start in the first half of this year.

Barts was one of six to receive a share in £2.7bn of funding from the government in 2019 as part of its Health Infrastructure Plan.

Subject to approvals, the trust has proposed that the new hospital, which will be designed by Ryder, be built on the disused former nurses’ accommodation site, allowing the existing hospital to remain fully operational during construction of the new one.

The new hospital is due to open in 2026.