The hybrid planning application from Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust covers the replacement of the ageing Crewe hospital with a 1.2m sq ft super hospital built largely to the north of the existing estate.

The scheme was accelerated after reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete was found throughout much of the 1970s-built hospital, with around 80% of the estate affected.

McAlpine and Vinci’s IHP joint venture is in line to build the six-storey main hospital building, alongside an ambulatory cancer care centre, central sterile services department, energy centre, plant buildings and a 1,000-space multi-storey car park.

The scheme now moves into detailed design and business case approvals ahead of procurement of major supply chain packages.

The new hospital is designed around the NHS’s standardised Hospital 2.0 approach intended to speed up delivery and reduce costs across the national programme.

Four existing buildings on the edge of the estate, providing around 96,840 sq ft of floorspace, will be retained and repurposed, including the emergency department, audiology and ENT unit, satellite outpatients and Ward 27/28 buildings.

The project team is led by WSP and Ryder Architecture, supported by Gleeds, WT Partnership, Mott MacDonald, Greengage and PwC.

A full planning consent was also granted for demolition of the South Cheshire Building and its temporary conversion into a 283-space car park to support enabling works.

The wider outline approval includes demolition of most of the existing hospital estate, construction of new hospital facilities, a dedicated emergency vehicle access from Middlewich Road, a servicing entrance from Flowers Lane and extensive landscaping works.

Construction is hoped to start from 2027 and run through to 2032. Once open demolition will get underway of the remaining old hospital buildings which will then continue until 2034.