Balfour bags £12m Cromer hospital

Balfour Beatty has been appointed to build a £12m hospital in Cromer, it was announced today.

The group was chosen by the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust to build a replacement for the original Mill Road hospital which first opened in 1932.

Mansell, an operating company within Balfour Beatty, will carry out the construction work, which is expected to complete in 2010.

The Swaffham-based team includes architect David Bissonnet of Purcell Miller Tritton, who has also designed the Big C Cancer Information and Support Centre in Norwich.

Trust chairman David Prior said: “We are delighted to have appointed the Mansell team to undertake what is a significant investment in acute NHS services in North Norfolk. We are determined to provide people with the very best hospital facilities and to make them environmentally sustainable.”

Keith Hayes of Balfour Beatty ProCure21 Lead, said: “We are very proud to be involved with providing the community with a great design befitting the local environment that will offer healthcare facilities tailored to the needs of local people.”

The procurement process for the new Cromer hospital was delayed earlier this year following a last-minute attempt to get the original hospital listed. English Heritage rejected the proposal on the grounds the current hospital is of little architectural interest.

The new hospital is being funded by a £12m legacy left by local resident Sagle Bernstein, whose sister was a patient at Cromer Hospital.