Leading construction companies appointed to build PHE’s €452 million world-leading public health science campus and h
Three of the UK’s leading construction companies have been chosen to create Public Health England’s new state-of-the-art public health science campus and headquarters at Harlow in Essex.
€452 million
The construction companies have been selected to deliver the four key elements of the €452m capital spend programme to create the campus, including the building and refurbishment of new and existing laboratories and office areas along with construction of a new arrivals area and logistics centre and site-wide infrastructure including car parking.
The appointments, which will create thousands of construction-related jobs, bring to an end an 18-month procurement process, with the companies expected to start work next month.
Four lots
The successful companies bid for four lots and are:
Lot 1 – New build of specialist bioscience laboratory building – Kier Group
Lot 2 – Refurbishment of main building which includes laboratories and offices – Wates Construction
Lot 3 – Arrivals, administration and logistics buildings – Wates Construction
Lot 4 – Site-wide infrastructure, external works and energy centre – VolkerFitzpatrick (Royal VolkerWessels)
2,750 people
The appointment of all three contractors provides a boost to local employment particularly in the case of VolkerFitzpatrick whose head office is located in the neighbouring town of Hoddesdon. The next steps will see the contractors working with the existing design teams and then preparing the site for major construction, which is planned to start in 2019 with phased occupation starting in 2021.
PHE Harlow, as the campus will be known, is expected to employ up to 2,750 people by 2024, with scope for further expansion.
World-leading science and evidence
Facilities from Porton in Wiltshire and Colindale in north London, as well as PHE’s central London headquarters will be relocated to the single centre of excellence for public health research, health improvement and protection. The campus is critical to the future of PHE, ensuring we will be able to use the latest scientific advances to deliver our world-leading science and evidence for issues such as smoking, alcohol, diabetes, dementia, infectious diseases, environmental hazards and climate change nationally and internationally.