BIRMINGHAM MEDICAL STAFF MOVE STEP CLOSER TO NEW ACCOMMODATION AT LONGBRIDGE
St. Modwen, the UK’s leading regeneration specialist, and the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) have submitted plans for a landmark residential facility for military staff working at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine (RCDM) Birmingham.
This development at St. Modwen’s £1 billion Longbridge community will provide 180 en-suite bedrooms and support facilities for RCDM personnel based at the city’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
The six storey building is adjacent to the A38 Longbridge roundabout giving staff easy access to shops and restaurants at Longbridge town centre, the three acre Austin Park and public transport links.
The medical staff are currently housed in rented accommodation across Birmingham, so this new facility will enable the team to establish an improved military identity and community.
Mike Murray, senior development surveyor at St. Modwen, said: “The RCDM accommodation will be an important contribution to the evolving and increasingly diverse community at St. Modwen’s £1 billion regeneration of Longbridge.
“Subject to planning consent being granted by Birmingham City Council’s planning committee, construction of the facility will begin this autumn.”
The Centre for Defence Medicine was established in Birmingham at the QE in 2001 and became the Royal Centre in 2002. The decision to make a greater use of NHS hospitals and training facilities led to an open competition in which NHS trusts were asked to bid to host the then Centre for Defence Medicine. University Hospital Birmingham Foundation Trust (UHBFT) was awarded the contract, which will last until at least 2045.
Since 2007 St. Modwen has created more than 3,700 jobs at Longbridge and delivered 350 new homes along with Bournville College, The Factory youth centre, and Longbridge Innovation Centre, which is home to nearly 60 businesses. The new £70 million Longbridge Town Centre already includes Sainsbury’s, Costa Coffee and a Premier Inn, and the Midlands’ largest Marks & Spencer and a 260-apartment Extra Care retirement village are on their way.
