The brief was ambitious: construct a high-performing, BREEAM Excellent-rated facility in a landlocked city-centre location, with a tight programme, complex clinical integration, and zero disruption to surrounding infrastructure. All while providing real, measurable value to both the NHS and local community.

In response to the NHS’s national rollout of Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs), Helix CMS was appointed to deliver a landmark two-storey, 2,000sqm facility. One of the first purpose-built CDCs in the country and a cornerstone of the government’s strategy to improve early diagnosis, reduce hospital pressure, and enhance accessibility to vital diagnostic services.

The highly technical healthcare project in a landlocked, city-centre location involved:

• Full steel frame construction on CFA piles with ground beams and slabs

• Complete external works including glazing, façade cladding, curtain walling, and drainage

• Full internal fast-track fit out over two floors, including MRI/CT/X-ray rooms, ultrasound suites, blood test areas, and reception spaces

• Creation of specialist medical environments including lead-lined walls, RF cages, negative air pressure cubicles, and Draeger ceiling pendants

• Installation of a bespoke plantroom, state-of-the-art mechanical and electrical systems, and advanced infection control measures

• Designed and delivered to achieve BREEAM Excellent using sustainable materials and energy-efficient systems including PV panels and high thermal mass concrete slabs

• Detailed logistics and traffic management planning in collaboration with the Highways Authority and adjacent stakeholders

• Construction close to a live culvert, with proactive structural and geotechnical risk management

• Simultaneous delivery of shell, core, and fit out, requiring agile sequencing and real-time coordination across all trades

• Mitigation of structural vibration risks during steel erection and equipment installation, especially critical for MRI and CT environments

• Full lift design and installation, including shaft construction in a confined footprint

• Daily site coordination meetings with the client and adjacent businesses

• Fall protection, edge protection, and safety netting during structural steel works

• Site segregation, signage, and pedestrian management to protect the public

• Robust ISO-accredited quality and environmental management systems, audited throughout the build by our compliance team