New hospital takes shape ready for November opening

In just 28 months, a muddy field near the M4 motorway has been transformed as the new Great Western Hospital has appeared on the Swindon landscape. The Link was given a guided tour inside the enormous six storey L-shaped structure by builders Carillion.

The five storey high glass lobby The parts you won't see. Miles of essential service pipes and ducts in the roof Awaiting the sound of children in the third level courtyard play area of the paediatric unit A nearly completed ward room awaiting beds

Around five hundred workers are busily fitting out the building, putting down flooring, installing miles of pipework, ventilation ducting and wiring. To achieve so much in such a short time has been a masterpiece of logistical planning and design by Carillion, the firm behind the project which won the contract to build the replacement for PMH under the Government's Private Finance Initiative scheme. The firm will build, operate and maintain the hospital which will be leased to the Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust for the next 27 years.

Since work began in October 1999, managers have had to order colossal quantities of building materials, organise contractors, meet tight deadlines and juggle the complex demands of building a hospital designed for the 21st Century. Overseeing all aspects of specialist equipment installation on site, Carillion's design co-ordinator Adam Stevens explained that work is progressing really well. "This is a very busy period, with many different contractors in the building completing the services and fitting out on all levels."

Each floor has a wide central 'street' running down it giving access to specialist departments and wards. Most of the wards will consist of four bed and single bed rooms. All boast en-suite facilities and most have impressive views of the Wiltshire countryside. Each will have its own kitchenette so that food delivered from the main kitchens can be kept hot and served in its optimum condition.

The colour scheme at the hospital reflects what designers call 'an earth to sky approach,' with terracotta tones on the lower floors running through green in the middle floors and sky blues at the top.

Wards on the upper levels are now largely completed and decorated. Guided tours for staff are taking place so that they can become familiar with the layout of the building in the detailed preparation for moving in.

The hospital will have a 14 bed kidney dialysis unit, which will replace a temporary facility in the Railway Village in Swindon. And an on-site crčche will prove a major asset for Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust's campaign to fill vacancies. To complement the 17 ward areas, there are 516 toilets, 9 lifts and 2,851 sets of doors and enough flooring material to cover nine football pitches. In total there are about 3,500 rooms in the building.