TWELVE million pounds is being spent on the new Yate Health Centre in the heart of the town.

The building is on target to be completed this autumn when X-rays and physiotherapy will become available in Yate for the first time.

Future patients have been able to see the structure of the three-floor development rise from the ashes of the old centre but for the first time, the Gazette brings you an exclusive look inside the building. Reporter Ali Dent took a tour of the site.

THE new Yate Health Centre stretches 13 metres skyward and will form a new skyline in the town centre.

It will boast 2,860 square metres of floor space, providing the very best in community medical care.

Inside patients will be able to find everything they need under one roof including a pharmacy, a doctors’ surgery, consulting and treatment rooms, an X-ray facility, minor injuries unit and physiotherapy and podiatry.

Ian Longden, project manager for NHS South Gloucestershire, said: "This will benefit everyone.

"There will be access to services on two floors and staff offices will be on the top floor.

"This will mean consulting rooms, which are quite expensive to build, will be freed up for other staff to see patients in rather than using them as offices as well."

Building contractors Kier Western have been working through the night on creating a modern building which will impress the local community.

Project manager Gary Latham said: "Among all the 1960s buildings in Yate this will look really special.

"We are using highly polished cream blocks on the ground floor which will look really nice."

Because of the high finish on the lower level, builders decided to turn their work on its head and start from the top down.

"We are building it upside down really," said Mr Latham. "Because the cream blocks are so expensive and so they do not get damaged by the builders going up and down, we put up the steel frame and then worked from the second floor down."

Architects have ensured the building will be as green as possible with the inclusion of solar panels to heat the domestic water supply, extra insulation to keep the warmth in and permeable paving underneath the car park.

Huw James, from architects Kendall Kingscott, said: "The paving will reduce the load of the drains as it allows rain water to seep in and will not overload the existing system."

The team behind the new health centre is working towards a ‘very good’ energy efficiency and environmentally friendly rating.

Under a Smart Waste scheme, all the rubble from the demolished health centre has been reused on site and forms part of the modern new building.

Added Mr James: "We will monitor the efficiency of the building when it is being used and make any tweaks we can."

Up to 60 builders are working on the site in a bid to finish the project on time.

Business development manager for Kier, Tim Westwood, said: "We started demolishing in May last year and it is all going very well and on target."

Funding for the project came from the NHS after years of campaigning for improved facilities and the announcement that Frenchay Hospital would be downgraded.

It is hoped patients will be able to access facilities they need in their local community instead of travelling to the new acute hospital at Southmead.