Willmott Dixon tops out £140m Derriford Hospital emergency care building

By Danny BallPublished On: September 9th, 2026Categories: News, Top Stories

Willmott Dixon has topped out the £140 million Emergency Care Building at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, marking the structural completion of the first Wave 1 scheme in the New Hospital Programme to enter main construction.

The project has used 10,900 cubic metres of concrete and 1,900 tonnes of recycled steel reinforcement to date.

The building’s structural frame was designed with embodied carbon reduction in mind. Ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS), a by-product of iron and steel production, has replaced 55% of the cement content in the concrete used so far.

The approach has resulted in an estimated saving of 1,625 tonnes of carbon compared with a conventional concrete mix.

Four-storey emergency care building

The topping out marks the completion of the main structural framework and the start of the next phase of construction.

Procured through ProCure23, the scheme is one of the first New Hospital Programme projects designed to meet the NHS Net Zero Building Standard.

Due for completion in April 2029, the building will provide four clinical floors of accommodation for urgent and emergency care.

The ground floor will contain an expanded Emergency Department, while the existing department will be converted into a dedicated Paediatric Emergency Department once the new facility opens.

A Same Day Emergency Care unit will be located on the first floor, with four interventional radiology theatres and five new surgical theatres on the upper floors for emergency and planned procedures.

The completed facilities are expected to provide almost twice the capacity of the existing Emergency Department.

Stephen Ford, Project Director at Willmott Dixon, said: “Reaching this topping out milestone is a fantastic achievement and a testament to the truly collaborative approach that has defined this project from the very beginning.

“Working alongside University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, our supply chain partners and specialist consultants, we have focused on creating more than just a building.

“The commitment, resilience and teamwork shown by everyone involved has been exceptional. We are excited to be playing our part in delivering a hospital that will serve the people of Plymouth and the wider Devon and Cornwall region, and one that every member of the project team can be proud of.”

Embodied carbon reduction

Reducing embodied carbon within the structural frame has been a key consideration during the design and construction of the building.

Replacing a proportion of conventional cement with GGBS reduces the cement content of the concrete, while the reinforcement used contains a high proportion of recycled steel.

Construction and skills

The construction programme is also supporting local employment and training through apprenticeships, employment support and engagement with local suppliers.

Willmott Dixon and its supply chain partners are working with local organisations to provide opportunities for people entering the construction sector and those further from the labour market.

The project forms part of the wider New Hospital Programme, with Willmott Dixon appointed as one of 10 construction partners to the Hospital 2.0 Alliance in March 2026.

Construction of the Emergency Care Building is scheduled to continue through to completion in April 2029.