Hulley and Kirkwood were contacted by the University of Glasgow in March 2020 requesting our assistance in setting up a Covid 19 testing facility at the existing Teaching & Learning building on the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus. With the UK going into lockdown and no vaccine available we responded to this urgent request without hesitation. 

Through a collaborative process with the project architect (BMJ), the project managers (UoG) and the contractor (Morris and Spottiswood), the first phase of the testing lab was fully operational within a three week period and capable of processing 15,000 tests per day. 

Hulley & Kirkwood provided design for the supporting small power, uninterruptible power supplies, mechanical cooling, specialist ventilation, water and drainage services. 

As the enormity of the global pandemic was fully realised, the project went through five phases of progressive increase in testing capacity with the facility capable of processing 150,000 tests per day in early 2022 making it the largest testing facility in Scotland. 

The project is a demonstration of what can be achieved with a ‘can do’ attitude and collaborative working.

Gallery

The lighthouse laboratory projects have been extremely challenging due to the compressed timescales. This required high levels of collaboration and flexibility to achieve the project goals. The H&K team on the project were first class and contributed to the success of the project. From the standing start to the present 150k COVID tests per day. Well done.