Thursday 18 April Per Mertesacker, current manager of the Arsenal Academy, officially opened 1 Lowther Road, a brand-new NHS Integrated Community Mental Health Centre in Islington. The opening was attended by representatives from Kier, as well as other key figures from the local community.
Kier recently handed over the new facility to the North London Mental Health Partnership. The new centre is part of the Partnership’s St Pancras Transformation Programme.
Works included the demolition of the existing facility on site and construction of a new four-storey building with state-of-the-art facilities including interview, counselling and treatment rooms, agile workspace for staff, a café and group collaboration zones; and landscaping that includes a ‘pocket’ park to support visitor and staff wellbeing.
Kier was appointed to the project through the Procure Partnerships Framework, an £8bn framework created to support NHS trusts, local authorities, education providers and blue-light services.
"We’re delighted to have handed over this vitally important integrated community mental health facility to Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust. We know this building will support staff and the Trust to provide much needed mental health support for the Islington community.
“We have experienced first-hand how open and supportive the local community is. We have engaged with them throughout the build to keep them informed and have provided a range of job opportunities as well as supported a number of local businesses."
David Rowsell, managing director for Kier Construction London
“The Partnership is committed to improving the outcomes for all our service users and the quality of the care we provide. Through our St Pancras Transformation Programme, we are delivering new leading-edge therapeutic environments for service users and carers and improved working environments for our staff. The cutting-edge design of Lowther Road was developed with input from service users, carers, our staff, and the local community, and can be adapted as our needs change over time.”
Jinjer Kandola MBE, NLMHP Chief Executive
This project completion reinforces Kier’s position as a leading provider of healthcare facilities on behalf of NHS Trusts, with handovers including the Heatherwood Hospital transformation programme in Ascot; the new Ruby Ward, a mental health services ward at Maidstone Hospital in Kent; the new diagnostic centre at Royal Brompton Hospital in Chelsea; and Nuffield Health at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, the City of London’s first independent hospital.