Portakabin receives ‘largest ever’ order

Temporary accommodation rental company Portakabin Hire said it had been awarded a £13.5 million (€17.6 million) contract to expand Royal Stoke University Hospital in the UK.

The company said the order was the largest in the division's 52-year history. It said a 4000 m² two-storey building would be constructed in less than four months to increase capacity at the hospital, to the benefit of patient care.

Portakabin said the rental of modular accommodation was a fast, flexible and cost-effective way for healthcare providers to expand ward and consulting facilities, particularly on constrained hospital sites.

It added that complete, fully-fitted buildings could be delivered in a fraction of the time of a site-based construction solution.

Due for completion in spring 2015, it said the purpose-designed facilities would include 56 new in-patient beds, two theatres, recovery room, ‘dirty’ and ‘clean’ utilities, single rooms with en-suite bathrooms, staff changing rooms, reception, kitchenette, offices, and an integral plant room.

The building would be craned into position as 124 steel-framed modules delivered to site complete with wall finishes, internal partitioning, M&E services and flooring already in place, further reducing work and disruption on this busy hospital site.