Oriel: construction contract awarded

28 February 2023

Oriel is a joint initiative between Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Charity that will see services move to a brand-new integrated centre on part of the St Pancras Hospital site in Camden.

The two-acre site earmarked for Oriel was owned by Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust (C&I). Moorfields acquired the site on 1 February 2023 through an NHS-to-NHS transaction approved by the Secretary of State for Health.

These significant milestones follow final NHS and government approval for the centre in November 2022 and Camden Council granting full planning permission in August 2022.

Demolition of six buildings currently on the Oriel site will now begin at the end of February and construction of the 10-storey, 47,000 sq. m, centre will start later in 2023.

Preparation work started on the site in autumn last year under an early works agreement with Bouygues UK and they have now developed a full construction programme with the building due to open in 2027.

The new centre – part of the New Hospital Programme, the biggest hospital building programme in a generation - will harness the expertise of the partners under one roof and will enable closer collaborative working between clinicians and researchers to speed up the delivery of the highest quality treatments and therapies for patients.

Oriel: construction contract awarded

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