Demolition work is due to begin at Whipps Cross Hospital next month, paving the way for a £300m redevelopment of the East London-based Barts Health Trust institution.

The Squibb Group have been appointed to clear disused buildings on the nurses’ site, the first phase of a massive rebuilding project which will see the hospital completely rebuilt with excess land utilised for at least 1,500 new homes, community spaces, a new park and the restoration of a historic chapel and pavilions.

A planning application is also due to be submitted to Waltham Forest Council next month while work on rebuilding the complex is expected to start at the end of this year. The completion date for the new 80,000 sqm hospital itself, which will incorporate 5,000 sqm of extra clinical space, is December 2026. The current facility will remain operational until it is ready.

Whipps Cross CEO Alan Gurney said: “The reason I am excited about the new hospital is because our staff already strive to provide safe and compassionate care, but doing this in a modern state-of-the-art facilities will help us deliver our vision of becoming a centre of excellence.”

The current Whipps Cross Hospital in East London

As each building is taken down, a new temporary car park will take its place with all the old structures expected to be demolished by the end of this year. That is also when work on a 500-space multi storey car park is due to start and that is due for completion in autumn 2022, the point at which the four-year hospital building programme is scheduled to begin.

When the new Whipps Cross Hospital is open in just over five years time, only then will the land designated for new homes be made available to developers.