Weston gets to work on military hospital conversion

Weston Homes has begun the £60m redevelopment of Cambridge Military Hospital in Aldershot into residential housing.The three-year project will see the listed Victorian and Edwardian buildings converted into 140 new private sale homes, set in 12 acres of landscaped grounds.VKE Contractors has been appointed by Weston Homes to undertake the substantial groundworks. Restoration specialist SJB will be responsible for the stripping out the internals of the buildings, while preserving historic features.Main contractor on the project is Weston Group’s own in-house construction division, and Weston Logistics will handle the scheme’s supply chain management, plant hire and the provision of off-site construction products and services.Stansted Environment Services, another subsidiary of Weston Group, will provide health & safety consultancy, ground testing and sound testing during the construction works.The main Cambridge Military Hospital building was built in 1875-79 and based on design principles outlined by Florence Nightingale. The hospital was named after Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, cousin of Queen Victoria.The hospital was closed in 1996 and in 2001 the Ministry of Defence announced that the buildings were surplus to military requirements. Weston Homes acquired the Cambridge Military Hospital in May 2019 from the MoD’s Defence Infrastructure Organisation and development partner Grainger.The masterplan by architectural practice Adam Urbanism shows a mix of apartments in the old buildings and new-build housing in the grounds.The main Cambridge Military Hospital will be converted to provide 74 homes including apartments and houses, commercial/community facilities and grand communal foyers and spaces.The other historic hospital buildings will be converted to provide two and three bedroom apartments, alongside newly built apartments and houses.