This month marks the first anniversary of construction work for the new Broadmoor Hospital redevelopment. Although the cranes, bulldozers and rollers only arrived on site 12 months ago, the landscape and skyline already look dramatically different.
With just two years to go before the new hospital opens its doors, West London Mental Health NHS Trust continues to work closely with its construction partner Kier, to ensure that it's ready for patients by spring 2017.
Using concrete panels to build each structure has cut the redevelopment process by around eight months. So far, all five new buildings have gone up and Jubilee House, one of the three ward buildings, will be watertight by October with the others all quickly following suit. Once open, the new buildings will provide upgraded facilities for patients as well as an improved working environment for all staff.
Vivienne Mowatt, redevelopment programme director, said: "It's amazing to see just how much the site changes every week. Our first concrete panel only arrived in December, so the near completion of all five main buildings in such a short space of time shows just how precise the planning, scheduling and implementation of this project has been.
"Recently, we took hospital managers and local stakeholder group leaders around the site to give them a sense of how each area will be used, what the benefits will be, and the striking difference between the future modernised high secure mental hospital and its outdated Victorian predecessor."
Much of Broadmoor Hospital's infrastructure has not changed since 1863 which makes the provision of modern day high secure mental health care difficult.
The redevelopment project will transform the site, modernise living conditions and deliver a fit for purpose setting for the provision of the latest treatments and care.
