Engineering firm begins work on £94m plant development

SES Engineering Services (SES), a national engineering specialist, has started on site on a £94m aseptic manufacturing facility in Barnard Castle, Durham, for global pharmaceutical company, GSK.

GSK has had a presence in Barnard Castle since the 1940s and, since that time, it has invested across its site expanding facilities to ensure it remains at the forefront of the pharmaceutical sector.

The new 11,500 sq m Q Block aseptic facility will allow GSK to add further to its broad range of products for HIV, respiratory and oncology treatment.

As can be expected of a pharmaceutical manufacturer, GSK works to the highest standards.

These exacting standards and the need to guarantee quality and maintain tight control over the build process and schedule, along with the manufacturer’s desire to be able to replicate the building anywhere in the world, were key drivers in choosing offsite as the central construction method and which led to SES’ direct appointment with GSK.

Now on site, SES will work to a detailed schedule of works to install all mechanical and electrical (M&E) building services, ensuring that there is minimum disruption to the live manufacturing site.

Steve Joyce, SES’ business director North and Scotland, said: “GSK is a forward-thinking company which identified and appreciated the importance of getting SES onboard at the earliest opportunity.

“This early engagement coupled with our BIM Level 2 experience and bespoke offsite capability, via our offsite manufacturing facility, Prism, allowed us to influence the M&E design at the outset of the project.

“As a result, a significant 60 percent of the MEP services will be produced offsite which meets a key target of GSK’s brief to replicate the building elsewhere in the world.

“I believe Q Block is an excellent example of offsite construction being used to best effect and I am delighted that SES has made such a positive contribution to the scheme.”

Further to the M&E services benefiting from offsite technology, 40 per cent of the building’s shell (including precast units, wall systems, steel framework and 95 per cent of a 2.5k sq m clean room will be created offsite).

It is anticipated that Q Block will complete in November 2019.