National Rehabilitation Centre Takes Shape as Cladding Installed

A 70-BED purpose-built rehabilitation centre near Loughborough which aims to transform rehabilitation in the UK continues to take shape as black cladding is applied to the outside of the building pavilions.

New drone footage of the centre’s progress also shows windows have also begun to be installed and the energy centre is now completed.

Inside the building, cables and pipes continue to be threaded along corridors and into rooms, and lightweight steel frame partitions denote where the internal walls will soon be constructed.

First NHS National Rehabilitation Centre

The £105 million NRC project is due to open to patients in summer 2025 and will be the first NHS National Rehabilitation Centre.

The specialist facility combines NHS care with research and innovation from its two academic partners – the University of Nottingham and Loughborough University – and is part of the New Hospital Programme.

The Stanford Hall Rehabilitation Estate near Loughborough, already home to the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre which opened in 2018, was selected as the site for the NRC to bring these two centres together and drive rehabilitation standards both nationally and internationally.

Drone Footage Captures Latest Progress

The construction is being carried out by IHP, a joint venture between VINCI Building and Sir Robert McAlpine.

The drone footage shows the five main pavilions of the ground floor of the NRC – Facilities Management, the café and staff area, the innovation and education pavilion, patient zone and Research and Innovation pavilion, and the main gym and therapy activity and treatment spaces.

The progress of the first and second floors which will house the south-facing patient bedrooms overlooking the Leicestershire countryside, as well as some treatment and support spaces, can also be seen in the footage.

The design of the NRC uses modern methods of construction and is designed to be highly energy efficient, with plans for the building to be carbon neutral to support the NHS’ ambition to be Carbon Net Zero by 2045.

Work continues to integrate the Smart Hospital design to make the NRC as digitally advanced as possible, with the capability to incorporate additional technology in the future.

>> Read more about the NRC in the news