Hospital and construction staff celebrated the topping out of a £12m project to build three new staff accommodation blocks at West Suffolk Hospital.

East Anglian Daily Times: : West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust staff and representatives from Barnes Construction at the topping out of the new staff accommodation a West Suffolk Hospital. From left to right: Pete Harris, director of post-graduate medical education at WSFT, Jason McCormack, capital projects manager at WSFT, James Scott, assistant project manager at WSFT, Liz Bright, consultant anaesthesiologist at WSFT, Kevin Tyrrell senior contracts manager at Barnes Construction, Stephen Dunn, chief executive at WSFT, Craig Black, director of resources at WSFT and Paul Hutton, senior site manager at Barnes ConstructionCONSTRUCTION: West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust staff and representatives from Barnes Construction at the topping out of the new staff accommodation a West Suffolk Hospital. From left to right: Pete Harris, director of post-graduate medical education at WSFT, Jason McCormack, capital projects manager at WSFT, James Scott, assistant project manager at WSFT, Liz Bright, consultant anaesthesiologist at WSFT, Kevin Tyrrell senior contracts manager at Barnes Construction, Stephen Dunn, chief executive at WSFT, Craig Black, director of resources at WSFT and Paul Hutton, senior site manager at Barnes ConstructionCONSTRUCTION (Image: Archant)

Barnes Construction is the main contractor for the £12m scheme which, when completed, will replace the existing 40-year-old residences and provide 160 en-suite bedrooms across the three five-storey buildings with communal kitchen and living areas including accessible facilities.

Designed by KLH Architects, construction started in November 2017 on the project at the rear of the Hardwick Lane site in Bury St Edmunds.

The topping out marks a milestone in the construction process when the building becomes watertight and work starts to progress on fitting out the interior.

Stephen Dunn, chief executive at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust said: “As part of our Trust’s estates investment plan we are excited to be building new accommodation blocks for our staff.

“This new accommodation will help to attract new joiners to our trust, and will ensure that our clinicians who live on site have a good experience and comfortable home to return to after a long shift.

“I’d like to thank Barnes Construction for their hard work and collaboration on this exciting development; it’s really coming on well and is going to look fantastic when completed.”

Jason McCormack capital projects manager at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust added: “It’s important to our trust that, as well as being a great functional space, every build on site has eco-friendly credentials. These blocks have been created with solar panels, dual-flush toilets, LED lighting double glazing and high levels of insulation to ensure this, and will be a great addition to our site.”

Construction work is due to be completed early in 2019.