May 5 2010
Skanska (STO:SKAB), in a consortium with the UK investment fund Innisfree, has been chosen, through an allocation decision by Stockholm County Council, to develop and construct the new university hospital, New Karolinska Solna (NKS) in Solna.
The project is the first in health and medical care in Sweden to be conducted as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP). This means that the consortium, in which Skanska and Innisfree each own 50 percent, will be responsible for financing, construction, operation and maintenance of the new hospital until 2040. As previously, all care in the new hospital will be conducted by the Stockholm County.
Skanska’s investment in the project company is estimated at approximately SEK 650 M. The assignment to design and construct the new hospital amounts to about SEK 14.5 billion and will be included in order bookings when the allocation decision takes force and the final financing agreement has been signed. This is expected to occur in the second quarter 2010 and will be announced then in a separate press release.
“This is a big day. With the New Karolinska in Solna, we are taking a giant leap into the future of healthcare. We have signed a long-term contract that minimizes the risk of delays and additional expenses for the tax payers,” says Catharina Elmsäter-Svärd, Chairman of the Board (Moderate Party) and Finance Commissioner, Stockholm County Council.
“It is a wonderfully exciting and important assignment to be involved in creating a completely new university hospital of world class that will strengthen healthcare and medical research in Sweden. As a result of our extensive experience of hospital construction and Public-Private Partnerships, Skanska has secured this prestigious assignment, our biggest ever,” says Johan Karlström, Skanska’s President and CEO.
The project comprises the design and construction, operation and maintenance, and financing of a new university hospital with 600 beds at the Karolinska Hospital site in Solna and the related research laboratory, patient hotel and parking facility.
New Karolinska Solna will be a completely new and ultramodern university hospital that can meet the demands of the healthcare and research of the future. The hospital is designed with a focus on the patient and is based on research, evidence-based design, to reduce the spread of infection and promote rapid recovery. All patients will have individual rooms, which improve security and integrity, and transports in the hospital will be efficiency-enhanced through driverless trucks.
The hospital will have a distinct environmental profile and will be one of the first university hospitals in the world to be environmentally certified. The goal is to achieve the gold level of the Swedish certification system Miljöklassad Byggnad (environmentally classified building) and a minimum of LEED Gold, the second highest level in the LEED international certification system. Construction will also be conducted in accordance with Skanska’s Green Workplace concept, which includes measures to reduce climate impact.
Skanska’s many years of experience of hospital construction in the Nordic region, the UK and the U.S. has been of significance in the work on the new hospital. Skanska has also developed and constructed a large number of PPP projects worldwide, including several large hospitals in the UK. For example, design and construction is currently under way on Barts and the London Hospital in central London, a project that is nearly the same size as NKS.
Construction work will be undertaken by Skanska Sweden (70 percent) in cooperation with Skanska UK (30 percent). This work will commence in the summer 2010 and the ambition is to receive the first patients in December 2015.
The proposal for the new hospital is based on the basic design developed by White Arkitekter and now further developed by Tengbom. Operation and maintenance in the form of property and workplace services will be provided by Coor Service Management.
Source: http://www.skanska.com/