When some people think of Portakabin, the image of temporary toilets at festivals or a building site office might come to mind, but there’s a lot more to the the York-based company’s buildings.
Indeed, many workers do their jobs in a fully featured office provided by Portakabin and many sports participants have had a relaxing shower in a Portakabin supplied changing room and toilet block.
Biggest order ever
The medical world has seen the benefits and cost-effectiveness of portable and modular building, none more so than the North Midlands NHS Trust who awarded the company its biggest single contract in its 50 year history. Work commenced in early 2015 on a 4 month £13.5 million project to expand the facilities in the orthopaedic department at the Royal Stoke University Hospital.
Purpose designed, the facilities include a ward, operating theatres, rooms with en-suite bathrooms and staff facilities including offices and changing rooms. Much of it has been constructed in advance of being transported to the Stoke site and craned into position to minimise disruption in the busy location.
Along with the need to work around adjacent working hospital buildings and a busy road in close proximity, the benefits of construction off-site and the need for the new facilities to be operational in a short time frame made Portakabin’s service very appealing.
The director of corporate services at the University Hospitals of the North Midlands NHS Trust, John Simpson, said the company has been chosen because of its “capabilities to deliver a challenging scheme on time and on cost”.
Other medical work
Portakabin has also enjoyed a track record in providing medical facilities for other organisations including GP surgeries, other hospitals, medical centres and an air ambulance base.
Worcester Royal Hospital managed to reduce its waiting times and pressure on its A&E department when Portakabin built a new unit in just 4 weeks – 2 weeks ahead of the agreed schedule. The project management and construction company who appointed Portakabin were highly delighted with the final result saying of the company: “Nothing was a problem and the project was a great success.”
Bond Air Services, providers of helicopter support for UK emergency services, needed to upgrade its accommodation facilities in Inverness for pilots and paramedic crews to comply with strict NHS infection control standards. Working with the limitations of only being able to access the site via the airport runway, a specialist building was installed including such features as safety flooring, wipe clean walls and waste disposal facilities.
With the rapid building of new housing in three commuter villages near Kettering and an influx of new residents, the local surgery needed a swift upgrade. The local NHS recommended Portakabin as a company who could not only build and deliver a facility quickly, but could meet the NHS’s specific specifications for healthcare buildings.
There are several more examples of the company’s medical-related work on its website.
