St. George’s Hospital, located in Tooting, South London, is a prestigious healthcare institution that has been providing vital medical services to the community for many decades. To maintain its high standard of patient care and accommodate the growing healthcare needs of the region, the hospital embarked on a significant expansion project.
The Project
St. George’s required the creation of a new modular facility to support expanding clinical capacity. The facility was to comprise of a three-storey office block with new appointment rooms, MRI ancillary support rooms, and three new MRI scanners. Based on Shanco’s previous performance on modular healthcare and education schemes, we were appointed to deliver the enabling groundworks package for this £1m project.
With the work location positioned directly in the middle of the live hospital campus, logistics and planning were critical. The site was enclosed by existing buildings on three elevations and a link bridge on the fourth, restricting access to a single vehicle at a time. The hospital also operated a strict one-way traffic system, and deliveries along the route crossed a live footpath, making safety, coordination and communication non-negotiable throughout.
The Brief
Shanco’s role was to deliver the groundworks and enabling civils to support installation of the new modular MRI unit, while maintaining safe access, minimising disruption and working within strict hospital procedures.
The Challenges
One of the key challenges of this project was its highly constrained access. With only one vehicle able to enter the site at a time, every delivery needed careful sequencing. The one-way system across the hospital meant supplier coordination had to be precise to avoid delays and prevent disruption to daily operations.
Furthermore, because of the site’s proximity to the hospital helipad, lifting operations required additional controls. Shanco adhered to a process where applications to lift were submitted 48 hours in advance, whether for unloading by HIAB or lifting reinforcement on site, ensuring works remained compliant and coordinated around hospital requirements.
What’s more, early investigation works identified an existing HV cable running through the middle of the work area. Once exposed and plotted, it became clear the cable conflicted with the proposed pile locations. A diversion was required, while maintaining an uninterrupted power supply essential to hospital operations.
How Shanco Delivered
To align with traffic levels on and around the campus, Shanco proposed bringing the piling rig to site in the early hours of the morning. Following a coordinated meeting with the hospital team, the piling rig was successfully delivered with little to no disruption, demonstrating the importance of aligning logistics to a live operational environment.
Shanco began with detailed investigation works, liaising closely with the client team, engineer and architect to coordinate existing buildings, confirm datum levels, and identify live services. When the HV cable clash was confirmed, Shanco planned and delivered the diversion in a way that protected the power supply, carrying out a reduced-level dig and diversion works with restricted access through narrow internal corridors into an enclosed planted courtyard.
This approach reflected Shanco’s ability to adapt quickly, coordinate proactively and deliver confidently in complex live environments where safety, compliance and communication are as important as the physical works.
Technical Delivery
Once enabling works and diversions were complete, Shanco constructed the piling platform and delivered the foundation solution:
- 95 CFA piles cast across the site
- Pile caps and beams prefabricated off-site due to space constraints
- A planned just-in-time delivery schedule, allowing components to be placed directly into position as they arrived
- Installation of pile caps/beams with infill mesh reinforcement
- Casting of a 600m² slab with thickeners to support the building
The slab pour demanded precise coordination to position the pump and maintain a continuous flow of wagons, another example of logistics-led delivery on a restricted hospital site.
The Outcome
Despite the constraints of a central live hospital location, Shanco delivered the works ahead of programme and with minimal disruption, enabling the modular unit manufacturer to install the three-storey office block and MRI ancillary rooms on schedule.
This project demonstrates Shanco’s ability to deliver high-trust, compliant groundworks in live healthcare environments, where detailed planning, safe coordination and programme certainty are essential.
