Royal London Hospital
Project at a glance
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SectorHealthcare
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LocationLondon
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ClientBarts Health NHS Trust
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Main ContractorWates
Delivering critical healthcare infrastructure at unprecedented speed
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, SES partnered with Wates Construction to deliver a full MEP fit-out of floors 14 and 15 at Royal London Hospital – creating capacity for over 170 intensive care beds in under five weeks.
Ordinarily a 12-month programme, the fast-track project involved full mechanical, electrical, and public health installations, as well as ceilings, flooring, cubicles, toilets, and partitions across two previously vacant expansion floors. The project was a true demonstration of collaborative working, with key team members meeting every five hours to assess safety, progress, and logistics.
SES engaged its offsite manufacturing facility, Prism, from the outset to accelerate delivery and reduce on-site labour hours – ensuring speed, safety, and precision under immense pressure.
The project was successfully delivered in less than five weeks – a significant achievement for a scheme of this scale and complexity. By accelerating both design and construction, SES and its partners provided urgently needed healthcare capacity at a critical moment, demonstrating the ability to mobilise, adapt and deliver under extreme pressure.
The project now stands as a benchmark for rapid-response healthcare delivery, showcasing how complex MEP infrastructure can be deployed at speed to support frontline services when it matters most.
Our approach
SES adopted a highly coordinated, MEP-led fit-out strategy to drive speed, efficiency and certainty across the programme.
A systems-led approach ensured that mechanical, electrical and public health services were seamlessly integrated, allowing clinical areas to be brought online quickly and safely without compromising quality or compliance.
Technical highlights
Full ICU fit-out in under five weeks
- Full ICU fit-out in under five weeks
- Complete MEP installation across two floors
- Infrastructure for 170+ intensive care beds
- All architectural finishes and sanitary facilities delivered
- Offsite manufacturing integration with prefabricated components, reducing site congestion and speeding up installation.
24/7 collaborative delivery
Working around the clock in continuous shift patterns, with up to 600 operatives on site, the team rapidly mobilised to deliver critical building services at pace. Close collaboration with the client and supply chain enabled fast decision-making and streamlined delivery.
“The scale of the National response needed to tackle COVID-19 is immense, and we must all do what we can. To complete this project as soon as possible, we drew on a full range of in-house expertise alongside our key supply chain partners, who dropped everything to join us.”
Matthew Towner
Operations Director, SES Engineering Services
