YORKON, the York-based Portakabin subsidiary, has completed what is thought to be the most complex modular building project undertaken in the UK.

A £12 million independent medical treatment centre was made at Yorkon's 60-acre factory site in Huntington, York, then assembled at Shepton Mallet, Somerset, in less than ten months for designers and project manager Atkins.

Constructed, managed and staffed by the independent healthcare sector, the new facility has been commissioned to treat NHS patients.

A similar building ordered from Yorkon by the private sector - a £6 million contract for a new treatment centre at St Mary's Hospital in Portsmouth - is well under way.

After manufacture at Huntington, 72 steel-framed modules have now been craned into position at Portsmouth, awaiting fit-out. The project is scheduled to be ready by the end of the year. The centres are part of a major Government initiative to increase capacity in the health sector, drive down waiting times and extend patient choice.

The Shepton Mallet treatment centre will carry out more than 11,000 operations per year, for procedures such as cataract surgery, hip and knee replacement and general surgery.

Facilities there include 34 in-patient beds, four operating theatres, an endoscopy suite, 18 day-case beds, an out-patients' department, medical imaging department equipped with an MRI scanner, ultrasound and general x-ray, physiotherapy suite, caf and teleconferencing for on-site training.

Paul Whiteside, chief executive of UK Specialist Hospitals, said: "We are absolutely delighted that the facility was completed on time and within budget."

Keith Blanshard, director and general manager of Yorkon, said, "This scheme is excellent news for the people of Somerset and North Dorset. To complete a hospital of this scale and complexity in less than ten months is a major achievement, not just for the project team, but for the construction industry as a whole. We believe it is unprecedented in the NHS and is a real credit to everyone involved."

The two-storey building was manufactured off-site at the 60-acre production centre in York, transported to Somerset, then craned into position as steel-framed modules up to 14 metres long.

Yorkon was also responsible for demolition works, landscaping and fitting out.

Updated: 11:47 Friday, August 26, 2005