Guy's Hospital, London

Project Summary

Opened in 1974, Guy's Tower was the world's tallest hospital building and a recognisable feature of the London skyline. That title was lost to Houston's O'Quinn Medical Centre in 1990 and then to the Hong Kong Sanitarium and Hospital in 2008. A £40 million refurbishment programme, completed in Spring 2014, included the addition of a Carsten Nicolai designed light sculpture which increased the tower's height to 148.65 metre. Not only has the tower been comprehensively updated and improved but it is once again the world's tallest hospital building!

Project Details

James Engineering's original involvement with the project involved extending the four existing chimneys located on the Guy's Tower roof. It was determined that by adding four x 5 meter extensions to the existing chimney structure, the main objective would be attained and Guy's Hospital would be able to regain it's prestigious title. Following the successful extension of the chimneys we accepted the challenge of supplying and installing the art work steel structure and ribbon cables for the 'Light Cloud' artwork.

Work on the tower had to be completed with minimal disruption to hospital operations, a requirement complicated by the busy confines of its city centre location. During the course of the project we raised and installed 60 tonnes of steel to a work site 148 metres in the air. Despite the challenging location, tight schedule and diverse engineering requirements, the work was completed on-schedule and on-budget.