The project has combined production and assembly in one new single plant and is part of a £50 million investment at the Glasgow HQ and manufacturing site of the UK subsidiary of Tokyo’s Terumo Corporation.

Terumo appointed BES as lead designer and principal contractor on the design and development of two new manufacturing grade cleanrooms and a sterilisation suite incorporating new production equipment as part of an extensive automisation programme in response to an expanding global surgical grafts market.

BES worked collaboratively with the Terumo Aortic teams.

Senior project manager Colin Clayton said: “The 2,400m2 manufacturing facility has combined cGMP clean rooms, plant rooms and supporting ancillary accommodation over two floors utilising BES’s full architectural, M&E and process services to accommodate Terumo’s bespoke process equipment.”

The development has been about building for the future, not only in terms of capacity and capabilities but also ensuring new technologies were incorporated to continue work towards Terumo’s net zero targets. This latest development is the first on site that is purely electric; powered on 100% recyclable electricity. The Glasgow site already boasts an impressive 100% recycling strategy and policy, with zero waste to landfill.

The new clean room enables low temperature hot water and chilled water to be generated by air source heat pumps, another first on site. Also, with a focus on minimising natural resources, recleaned or recycled water is utilised throughout. Air quality is always a high priority, with high specification filtration controls to abate any potential emissions. BES incorporated Norwood demountable partitioning systems for walls, ceiling, vison panels and doors, with the added environmental advantages that they are made from steel, fully adaptable and able to be repurposed.

The partitioning is compliant and stylish with double stack dados that also effectively integrate power, data and utility services while allowing for easy maintenance access - and with no edges there’s no room for dust to build. All units were prefabricated in-house and designed for manufacturing and assembly technology.

Terumo Aortic’s general manager, Glasgow, Robert Welsh praised BES and the working partnership: “It’s been a long process to get to this stage, not least working through the pandemic and at a time of rising costs; prices for fuel, aluminium and many integral materials went through the roof, which resulted in several re-iterations of the design to control costs. However, it’s been a strong relationship with BES’s dedicated engineering team working well together to develop innovative solutions.

“We’ve also been working with BES on the design of the second-floor clean room simultaneously and we are well advanced with plans for this now. The upper floor clean room has used more of BES’s value engineering skills, assisting us revise and design several automation processes, whereas for the first clean room it was our bespoke equipment designed for our unique processes.

“BES won the contract through a tender process, so it has been a new relationship, which was tested during the pandemic and with much more collaboration than first anticipated. But it’s been solid continuity between the two teams and an example of both teams coming up with ideas and working on the design and specification contributing towards a great result.”

When fully operational Terumo Aortic UK will be employing around 100 staff in the new facility and with year-on-year sales growth in double digits the Glasgow-based site will contribute significantly to additional manufacturing capacity – alongside its American manufacturing site - to meet increasing worldwide demand.