University Hospitals Leicester, Estates Optimisation, Energy and Infrastructure Strategy
- Location
- Leicester, UK
- Client
- UHL NHS Trust
- Expertise
- Architecture
- Advisory Services
- Estates Optimisation
- Sustainability Strategy
A coordinated evidence base shaped a deliverable consolidation strategy that strengthens clinical resilience, operational performance and long term estate investment.
University Hospitals of Leicester operates across three acute sites with long‑recognised inefficiencies arising from a historically evolved estate rather than a planned clinical model. Fragmentation has resulted in duplicated services, diluted clinical resources and operational instability, affecting patient flow, efficiency and service resilience. We worked with the Trust to define the programme context and establish the strategic parameters required to support transformation.
Our multidisciplinary team developed an estate‑wide masterplan integrating service reconfiguration across acute, elective and community provision. The strategy concentrates core services at Leicester Royal Infirmary and Glenfield Hospital while enabling rationalisation of the Leicester General Hospital site. This supports financial recovery through reduced duplication and improved operational performance.
We shaped a deliverable phasing approach that reduces reliance on temporary decant accommodation and maintains continuous operation during redevelopment. The resulting framework supports modern clinical environments, improved staff experience and enhanced patient outcomes. Considered massing, orientation and building form strengthen environmental and spatial performance, creating flexible, future‑ready facilities that improve clinical adjacency, diagnostic capability and operational resilience.
Delivering a resilient acute network
Our Estates Optimisation advisory services supported the Trust in defining a consolidation strategy to reduce the estate from three acute sites to two. The challenge centred on addressing long‑standing fragmentation, duplicated services and operational instability while aligning estate decisions with clinical and financial objectives. We provided the strategic evidence required to rationalise the Leicester General Hospital site and strengthen performance across the remaining acute facilities.
Through an estate‑wide masterplan, we integrated service reconfiguration across acute, elective and community provision, concentrating core services at Leicester Royal Infirmary and Glenfield Hospital. Our specialist advisers shaped a phased, deliverable approach that minimises decant requirements and maintains operational continuity. This established a clear route to long‑term rationalisation, improved patient flow and enhanced clinical resilience across a modernised acute network.
Embedding future ready estate resilience
Our Energy, Infrastructure and Decarbonisation advisory services supported UHL in developing an integrated strategy aligned to its major capital works programme. The Trust needed a coordinated approach that strengthened resilience, supported decarbonisation targets and guided long‑term investment across three complex hospital sites. We undertook a detailed review of mechanical, electrical, specialist gas and drainage infrastructure to identify capacity constraints, upgrade requirements and operational risks.
We assessed a range of technology options from lifecycle carbon, resilience and whole‑life cost perspectives, establishing scalable interventions capable of adapting to evolving programme requirements, budget profiles and emerging technologies. The resulting framework provides structured, evidence‑led guidance for infrastructure decision‑making, supporting phased delivery of upgrades and ensuring alignment between estate development, energy performance and long‑term operational resilience.