Perfusion is the passage of fluid through the lymphatic system of blood vessels to specific organs or tissues. This requires an environment approaching clean room standards, supported by the full suite of medical services in accordance with the relevant Health Technical Memorandum’s (HTM’s).

The scheme marked our first win with Stroods Builders and their first commission at Addenbrookes. The works created two perfusion rooms located deep within the hospital. As all of the mechanical and electrical services were mainly distributed from existing infrastructure and new air handling plant had to be installed in an existing plant room, the programme demanded meticulous planning. Managing isolations, disconnections, reconnections, testing and commissioning presented some real challenges in terms of logistics, sequencing and maintaining uninterrupted hospital services. These complexities were further compounded by the fact that the adjacent corridor served as one of the main theatre routes.

This was also a project that simply could not be priced using rule of thumb methods or historical cost per metre square metrics. The refurbished footprint for the two perfusion rooms totalled just 50m2, yet the M&E package alone amounted to £700k – equating to £14,000 per metre square which reflects the highly specialised and unique nature of the installation.