East Oxford Health Centre Manzil Way

Our Development Solutions team is working with Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust and Oxfordshire County Council on a strategic feasibility business plan for a new Mental Health and Social Care Hub in East Oxford.

With current facilities becoming dilapidated, the customer needs a new flagship hub to host community services for social care and mental health outpatient facilities.

We provided expertise for a disposal strategy of three nearby parcels of land to generate capital funds for the hub’s financing. We also advised on:

• lifecycle costing
• social value
• restoration of community focus in the town centre.

The outcome is a highly sustainable and flexible space that meets the requirements of all key stakeholders, with has a strong focus on wellbeing for an improved patient experience.

Our services provided:

• Holistic approach: we provided the customer with project specific service consultancy from inception, delivered through workshops and bespoke outputs. Our ability to provide a holistic approach outlined below enabled our customer to consider the wider and far-reaching picture.
• Collaborative working: we provided continuous One Public Estate workshopping over a six-month period to understand the requirements of three public sector bodies: NHS Oxford Health, Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council. We also engaged additional key stakeholders such as a mental health charity and County Print Finishers to ensure our design offered a broad range of wellness services.
• Innovative construction methods: We explored modern methods of construction to deliver the scheme, using CURA (our pre-designed healthcare hub offering both community and primary care services), a system that will provide the customer time and cost certainty.
• Strategic asset review: Our team identified and valued three parcels of land to unlock and redevelop into new homes and student accommodation in the city, with income generated funding the hub. The three sites are:
  • The Slade, delivering 128 houses and apartments
  • Manzil Way, providing a further 15 houses
  • The Rectory Centre, two blocks of student accommodation housing 114 beds.

So far, the council have accepted our proposal for the Manzil Way site which has allowed us to progress with detailed design and funding analysis for this scheme.

• Funding options: Using our strong strategic links with Homes England through our place on the Delivery Partner Panel 3 Framework, we are exploring potential grants to make The Slade and Rectory sites viable. We are also exploring additional funding options and modelling to further support delivery of the hub such as Strip Income Model, Lease and Lease Back, Public Works Loan Board and NHS Lending.

Project outcomes

• Our land disposal strategy offered savings of £12.6 million on the Hub development. An additional savings strategy has also been considered by reducing the GIFA by 25%, generating savings of a further £6.1m.
• The business plan we provided for stakeholders was at no extra cost due to the OPE funding strategy. The two main funding structures we have identified have supported the customer in developing a strong business plan they can take to their board to gain backing and secure funding.
• We have explored options with the customer to achieve a sustainable design for the hub. All building materials selected for this project will be sustainable and use less embodied carbon during installation. These materials will also be recyclable during demolition at the end of the building’s life cycle. The hub has been designed to achieve BREEAM Excellent with the option to upgrade to zero carbon.