Building the Future of Medical Training: Lessons from The University of Bolton School of Medicine

At Willmott Dixon, we pride ourselves on delivering spaces that don’t just meet a specification — they help transform communities. That ambition is at the heart of the University of Bolton School of Medicine (UBSM): a first-of-its-kind medical training facility designed to support 3,000 students a year and inject £150 million into the local economy annually.

Located within the grounds of Bolton Hospital, UBSM is much more than a building. It’s a blueprint for how healthcare education can meet real-world NHS demands, preparing future generations of doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals. As we look ahead to new opportunities to deliver healthcare education spaces, the lessons learned at UBSM will be invaluable.

Blending healthcare and education needs

One of the project’s biggest challenges — and triumphs — was delivering a building that meets both educational and healthcare standards. Clinical training rooms, located on Level 2, needed finishes and infection control measures appropriate for hospital environments, while lecture theatres and learning spaces followed university specifications.

Infection control was a particularly sensitive area. Drawing on experience from previous healthcare projects, our team worked closely with the University, NHS stakeholders, and infection control specialists to ensure the clinical spaces would meet the rigorous requirements without over-specifying in purely academic areas.

Balancing quality, cost, and compliance required careful consultation — but the result is a facility that feels fully integrated into the wider hospital ecosystem.

From a technical perspective, the building includes:

• Full-scale clinical simulation suites, replicating hospital scenarios
• State-of-the-art AV and IT infrastructure to support blended learning
• Advanced BMS (Building Management Systems) integrated with Bolton University’s main campus, ensuring seamless operations across sites
• Specialist M&E (Mechanical and Electrical) solutions to support both general education and clinical functions

These features ensure that students are trained in realistic healthcare environments, preparing them for immediate transition into clinical roles — a major step forward in healthcare workforce readiness.

Managing complexity: Stakeholders and logistics

The success of UBSM hinged on early and extensive stakeholder engagement. With Bolton University, NHS staff, IT specialists, and facilities management teams all involved, we had to ensure that technical needs — like secure NHS network access — were addressed alongside university requirements. Collaboration sessions and early design reviews helped align expectations, avoid costly late-stage changes, and secure buy-in from all sides.

Working within the live hospital environment brought further complexity:

• The site was located on a blue light route directly into A&E
• Adjacent to a busy secondary and primary school
• In a densely trafficked cut-through to the motorway

With these constraints, logistics planning was critical. Deliveries were meticulously scheduled, crane operations tightly controlled, and car parking carefully managed to avoid disruption to the hospital and local community. Through weekly collaboration meetings, daily safe start briefings, and marked-up logistics plans, we kept operations smooth and safe in an incredibly tight environment.

Adaptability under pressure

Healthcare projects often require adaptability, but BIMS took this to another level. Over the course of the build, we managed approximately £2.2 million worth of change without derailing the programme. This included:

• £800,000 of interior design modifications to meet updated stakeholder requirements
• Major upgrades to AV and IT packages to ensure future-proofing
• Internal layout changes to improve clinical training flow

Rather than treating change as a disruption, we embedded flexibility into our working practices. For example, design changes prompted a strategic pivot to a ‘top-down’ construction approach — flipping the original programme to keep critical path activities moving.

Selecting supply chain partners with experience in education and healthcare environments was crucial. Our M&E partner, WMB, wasn’t just a subcontractor — they became a trusted adviser to the client team, helping navigate technical challenges and find cost-effective solutions.

Leaving a legacy beyond the building

Social value was a cornerstone of the BIMS project:

• 256 apprentice weeks delivered during construction
• 13 local people employed on the project
• £16.1 million of the budget spent within 20 miles of the site

This investment in local people and businesses ensured that UBSM didn’t just create a learning facility — it helped support Bolton’s wider community and economy.

The final handover process reflected the same spirit of partnership that defined the project. We held completion workshops, weekly stakeholder handover meetings, and operated an eight-week soft landing period with a dedicated Willmott Dixon team member on site, smoothing the transition and ensuring any teething issues were swiftly addressed.

Key takeaways for future healthcare projects

1. Early integration of technical systems: Don’t leave BMS, AV, and IT discussions until late in the process — they must be central to early design decisions.
2. Balanced specification: Understand when to apply full clinical standards and when education standards suffice. Overspecification adds unnecessary cost without adding value.
3. Transparent change management: Engage customers in solution-finding, not just change-approval.
4. Prioritise stakeholder relationships: Regular informal site walkarounds were crucial for surfacing small issues early before they became big problems.
5. Match people to projects: A team invested in the outcome — as many of our team were, with ties to Bolton University and the NHS — delivers above and beyond.

Building the future, together

UBSM represents everything we believe in at Willmott Dixon: collaboration, quality, transparency, and impact. The lessons and technical expertise gained here put us in the perfect position to help deliver facilities that truly transform futures.

Because when you get healthcare education right, you don't just build buildings — you build better communities.