Tier one contractor Willmott Dixon has started work on a £30m scheme to redevelop Barnes Hospital in south west London, delivering a new NHS mental health facility and a special educational needs (SEN) school.
The firm was appointed via the Southern Construction Framework. The project is funded by South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust and LocatED, a Department for Education agency. It forms part of a wider £280m programme to modernise mental health facilities across south-west London.
The scheme includes a 90-place SEN school, to be called the London River Academy, which will serve children aged seven to 19 with social, emotional and mental health needs. The school will be operated by Beckmead Trust.
Consultations with patients, NHS staff and the wider community shaped the final plans, which were granted consent in October 2023. Early works began in early 2024, with demolition completed by the end of the year by Dunton Environmental.
Main construction is due to begin in summer 2025, with the school and healthcare building set to open in 2027.
The new health facility will replace services previously delivered at Barnes Hospital, which relocated to Livingston House in Teddington in 2023. The Trust’s expanded services will operate across both sites from 2027.
The project is part of the Trust’s Better Environments programme. Recent milestones in the initiative include the £150m redevelopment of Springfield University Hospital and the new Richmond Royal Wellbeing Centre. A £110m upgrade to Tolworth Hospital is scheduled for delivery by 2028.
LS Estates is also bringing forward a residential development on the remaining land at the Barnes site, with a separate team of consultants. A planning application for that element is currently under consideration by the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.
Source: Willmott Dixon press release / SWLSTG NHS Trust
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Ben Vogel