Kier has handed over the new clinical buildings at Luton and Dunstable University Hospital to Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, ahead of the official opening later this year.

Procured through the Crown Commercial Services framework, the £150m project is set to provide modern and enhanced facilities for medical staff and the people of Luton and surrounding areas.

Spanning five storeys and 16,700m2, the hospital now has state-of-the-art facilities for maternity, neonatology, critical care and theatre services. With eight new operating theatres, the hospital will provide additional capacity and allow the re-purposing of older theatres.

The building also features two hybrid theatres, capable of delivering interventional and specialist services all in one place. The critical care facilities will allow for more beds and the maternity wards will allow for additional cot space and rooming in facilities to support new parents.

To minimise disruption while delivering this project on an extremely constrained site, immediately next door to live and operational clinical facilities, Kier worked closely with the trust to ensure that healthcare services continued smoothly during construction.

Over the three years on site, Kier implemented initiatives to minimise environmental impact and promote resource efficiency, including off-site manufacturing and the use of low-carbon concrete in the building frame and floor slabs.

The work also included an extensive social value programme, with Kier working in collaboration with the trust, the local authority, higher and further education providers and schools to deliver more than £81m worth of social value, including over 1,000 apprenticeship weeks and over 1,000 volunteering hours.

Cheryl Ward, managing director at Kier Construction Eastern and Midlands, said: “Handing over this high-quality healthcare facility is an important day for us as it means these fantastic new facilities will soon be ready for clinical staff to use and support patients.

“Working collaboratively with Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and our key project partners, this has been a rewarding project for us to work on. Much of our brilliant team who worked on this project live nearby. This is their local hospital, where their families have been treated and babies born, and their personal investment to leave a lasting legacy on this project has been inspiring.”

The new buildings are now ready to receive furniture and medical equipment as well as artwork, courtesy of the Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Charity and the fundraising initiatives of staff and hospital supporters.

This is the 25th healthcare project which Kier has delivered for the NHS since January 2024, totalling over £445m, with others including Dyson Cancer Centre, Satellite Radiotherapy Centre and Golden Jubilee Surgical Centre.