Construction Magazine February 2016 | Page 15

• Central arcade with views of the main blood processing hall , testing , NMRU and
R & D laboratories
• High degree of transparency throughout the building ( partitions
are floor to ceiling glass )
• Layout designed to reduce travel distances between departments
• Additional space built in to allow for future innovations in blood , cell and tissue treatments
• Significant community benefits programme
LIFE SAVER involved in the project for three years and explains how it has been funded : “ This project initially came to the market as a capitally funded project , that all fell by the wayside with difficulties in public sector financing , and then came back to the market as an NPD project – in recent years Scottish Procuring Authorities have progressed an increasing number of privately financed projects using the Non Profit Distributing ( NBD ) model . The NPD model was developed and introduced as an alternative to and has since superseded the traditional Private Finance Initiative ( PFI ) model in Scotland . So we funded the National Centre through Nord / LB , we ’ re building it with Interserve Construction and we ’ re going to operate it through the 25-year concession with Interserve Facilities Management .”
The construction site was initially a farmer ’ s field , owned by Heriot- Watt University , and Coe says it ’ s the perfect location for SNBTS with excellent transport links including Edinburgh airport . Constructing a completely new centre has allowed the team to create exactly what SNBTS needs . “ There is one main building , and that is split up into three

Key features

• Central arcade with views of the main blood processing hall , testing , NMRU and
R & D laboratories
• High degree of transparency throughout the building ( partitions
are floor to ceiling glass )
• Layout designed to reduce travel distances between departments
• Additional space built in to allow for future innovations in blood , cell and tissue treatments
• Significant community benefits programme
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