MTX win contract to provide Birmingham City Hospital with a modular NICU

Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust has a requirement to refurbish and extend their current neonatal department to expand capacity which will allow the organisation to treat more pre-term babies.

Working with architectural partners RPS and combined consulting engineers RPS and DSSR, MTX will provide a 180m² single storey modular extension to house a 6 cot NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit), nurse base, quiet room and staff office. The scheme will include new dedicated external plant and will connect into the existing via 2 new links.

In addition to providing the new modular facility, MTX will also refurbish the hospital’s current SCBU 1 & 2 (Special Care Baby Unit), HDU (High Dependency Unit) and supporting ancillary areas.

Works are due to start later on this month, with the modular phase of the project scheduled to begin first. The current SCBU and HDU will remain live and operational throughout the groundworks and modular install. Due to the sensitive nature of the facility, noise control is extremely important. MTX will utilise acoustic barriers against the windows and ensure acoustic control around machinery is in place at all times. As well as the acoustic measures being taken externally, the internal noise levels will be monitored throughout the groundworks process to ensure levels are kept to a minimum and within the required standards. A quiet period will also be adhered to on a daily basis with MTX site management liaising closely with the SCBU end users.

Once all the modules are in place, the SCBU and HDU will be temporarily relocated to a suitable ward area so the refurbishment works can begin alongside the fit out of the new NICU. The project is due to be completed in December 2019.