Chris Forrest

Three regional testing hubs have been delivered in total across North, West and East of Scotland providing essential testing facilities throughout the pandemic. Subsequently, these laboratories will provide fantastic modern facilities for the NHS to utilise.

Morris & Spottiswood’s contract at the NHS Lauriston building in Edinburgh involved working round the clock to deliver the premises aimed at increasing testing capacity of up to 30k adults per day once fully operational. The project was fast-tracked and delivered in an impressive 9-week period.

The laboratory was surrounded by dental and blood transfusion centres, which remained fully operational throughout the project, creating challenges around live environment working. Dust pollution and disruption were kept to a minimum through strict infection control procedures in line with HAI Scribe regulations.

Works included installation in new life systems, fire alarms, access control, new installation of labs within existing building, new partitions, new fire doors, new lab furniture, floor colourings, new suspended ceilings and decoration. M&E upgrades included ducting system, ventilation, air condition, new circuits and electrical works which were delivered via Livingston Building Services, Morris & Spottiswood’s sister company.

Chris Forrest, contracts manager at Morris & Spottiswood, said: “It’s been an incredible experience delivering these facilities. The team worked extremely hard to deliver in such a tight timescale and should be proud of themselves. This was achievable because everybody really committed to working in partnership to get these projects over the line.”

Susan Grant, principal architect for Health Facilities Scotland, said: “It took just 3 months to successfully brief, design and construct these highly complex labs that would typically take up to 3 years each. The speed and complexity of the builds was challenging and all sites regenerated unused portions of the NHS estate.”