Construction and property development company Buoygues UK have been chosen as the main construction partner of the first specialist children’s hospital in the East of England.

The children’s hospital, to be built on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, will combine physical and mental health services with research spaces, in what the project team says will be a first for the UK.

Bouygues UK will now work with Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH), Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Cambridge to finalise designs and costs before construction begins.

Matt Allen, director of new hospital construction at CUH, said the appointment would allow the project to “get straight down to work” on the next stage. Philippe Bernard, chair and chief executive of Bouygues UK, described the hospital as a “pioneering project” and said the company was committed to “innovation” and “sustainability.”

Katie Birditt, the Chair of Cambridge Children’s Youth and Young Adult Forums, said that “Knowing that there will be a place built just for children and young people – where mental and physical health are treated together – fills me with hope.”

The hospital has been designed by architectural firms Hawkins\Brown and White Arkitekter, with engineering, healthcare planning and sustainability consultants Ramboll, MJ Medical and Edge also involved. Plans include at least five stories, wards, operating theatres, a paediatric intensive care unit, a hospital school and a 5,000sqm research institute.

The building will target a BREEAM Excellent sustainability rating and aims to contribute to the NHS’s net zero carbon commitments. Proposed features include air-source heat pumps, rooftop solar panels and landscaped outdoor areas.

R G Carter has already carried out enabling works on the site, including the installation of an access road and utilities. The plot is located opposite the Rosie Maternity Hospital.

Buoygues UK were also involved in the recent completion of the University’s Ray Dolby Centre, which opened in May earlier this year. The “new home of the Cavendish Laboratory” is a five-storey building which the University hopes will serve as a “national hub for physics”.

The outline business case for the project was approved by the Department of Health and Social Care in August 2024. A full business case is expected in 2026, after which main construction is due to start.

The hospital has been in development for several years, with plans shaped by input from children, young people, families and staff. Project leaders say they want to reduce the need for families to travel long distances for specialist care, and to address the separation of physical and mental health services.

The East of England is currently the only region in the UK without a specialist children’s hospital, serving a population of nearly 1.5 million children and young people.

Once complete, the hospital will form part of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, which also houses Addenbrooke’s Hospital, the Rosie and a range of research institutions.