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Milestone in plan to redevelop Birmingham hospitals

Demolition work completed on site of new women's hospital

Richard Myatt, Tilbury Douglas; trust chief executive, Sarah-Jane Marsh; and Mark Dudley of Armac
Richard Myatt, Tilbury Douglas; trust chief executive, Sarah-Jane Marsh; and Mark Dudley of Armac

Two buildings have been demolished, marking the first step in ambitious plans to redevelop Birmingham Women’s Hospital. 

Tilbury Douglas recently completed the demolition of Norton Court and the dental hospital on the Birmingham Children’s Hospital site in partnership with local demolition and remediation partner, Armac Group.

The move brings Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust (BWC) one step closer to its ‘Big Build’ ambition to modernise and expand both its women’s and children’s hospitals.

Built in 1968, when it was known as Birmingham Maternity Hospital, the 220m by 12m Norton Court block was originally designed to provide residential accommodation for doctors and nurses.

And over the years it has housed a wide variety of hospital services including neonatal parent accommodation, medical engineering, and clinical genetics.

But it was obvious that the building was becoming outdated, unsightly, too expensive to maintain, and could not offer the same environment as other, more modern, parts of the hospital.

With just 40% of the building occupied by 2019, the remaining staff moved out from Norton Court and into the £3.6m modular block, Lavender House, and other areas of the hospital, before demolition work began in October 2020.

Working collaboratively with the onsite team over the COVID-19 pandemic, the demolition has been achieved according to the programme, with special care taken to reduce the impact of noise, dust and disruption on the live hospital site.

Trust chief executive, Sarah-Jane Marsh, was presented with a brick from the demolished building to mark the milestone (pictured).

She said: “While Norton Court is an integral part of the women’s hospital’s history, it was outdated, impractical, and the opposite of what women, men, and families expect from a specialist hospital.

“When I became chief executive in 2017, it was clear that the building was failing; not just in terms of modern health care provision, but also in providing a suitable working environment for our staff.

“No matter what the future holds, we are now fortunate to have land at both the women’s and children’s hospitals available to build on.

“And the demolition of Norton Court marks another positive step forward in our Big Build ambition to provide world-class facilities that our women, children, young people, and families truly deserve and that we can be proud of as a trust, city, and region.”

Having taken down Norton Court and the 10-storey dental building, work is continuing to remove the old boiler house and 38m chimney.

Works will complete on the site next year.

 

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