The importance of public-private sector collaboration to large-scale projects like Springfield

With increased demand for mental health care and housing provision, public-private sector collaboration that can deliver large-scale projects that address these challenges has never been more important.

In 2019, STEP, a JV of Kajima Partnerships and Sir Robert McAlpine Capital Ventures, signed the contract to deliver Springfield Village. Prior to this, the partnership received reserved matters planning permission for the 32-acre park, public realm and infrastructure component, which is part of a £150m redevelopment of the Springfield University Hospital site and creation of an entirely new neighbourhood in Wandsworth, south west London.

The Springfield masterplan aims to create the best environment for recovery by integrating mental health care within the community and the scheme will bring two state-of-the-art mental health facilities, 839 new homes, retail space, a care home and much needed public green space to south west Londoners.

The former Springfield University Hospital bore many of the hallmarks of its 1840s construction and was cut off from its surroundings. Yet, as the latest research tells us, connection with a community is key to preventing poor mental health and allowing people to thrive. This is why the vision focused  on embedding Springfield’s redeveloped hospital at the centre of a new neighbourhood.

The goal isn’t simply to build a new hospital and new homes. It is to spark a transformation of mental health services for 1.1 million south west Londoners based on the understanding that community and connection promote good health.

Springfield and its concept only exist because the public and private sectors came together to make it happen. The project is the result of nearly a decade of collaboration between South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust (SWLSTG) and STEP.

The modernisation of Springfield University Hospital’s mental health provision was spearheaded by SWLSTG and their vision for modern mental healthcare. Working with architect CF Møller, the design of Springfield’s therapeutic environments was informed by many years of research and more than 600 workshops with NHS service users, practitioners, and researchers.

Ultimately, Springfield’s success comes down to the social infrastructure that underpins it, which is brought to life by myriad private partners alongside the NHS Trust. Collaboration at this scale requires careful oversight to bring so many moving parts together. At Springfield, our STEP joint venture acted as the lynchpin that secured each component of the scheme – from unlocking funding to enlisting trusted partners and managing the development process.

To illustrate, by the point of completion, Barratt, City & Country and London Square will have delivered 839 new homes, with 43% of London Square’s homes offered at affordable rates. Working with a trio of residential developers allowed us to make the most of Springfield’s existing site to create a mix of homes. City & Country, for example, used their heritage know-how to reimagine homes out of Springfield’s Grade II listed hospital buildings.

Similarly, we brought on Stantec (formerly Barton Willmore) to further progress the design of Springfield’s extensive green space, which is integral to both the homes and healthcare provision. The park will house ‘The Hangout’, a new youth hub designed with St John Bosco College Secondary School students.

This careful curation of partners, centred on Springfield’s evolving community, makes the concept both commercially viable and socially transformative. As a result of the project’s success, we have been able to put our philosophy into practice elsewhere.

In South Wales, for example, Kajima is facilitating the delivery of Velindre Cancer Centre. In addition to providing specialist cancer services to more than 1.5 million people and providing a pioneering research centre, the scheme is set to become one of the UK’s greenest hospitals. The vision for the project depends upon the medical, design and sustainability expertise provided by a consortium of public and private partners that Kajima have brought together.

Similarly, in Newcastle, our existing JV, Genr8 Kajima Regeneration Ltd, has partnered with Newcastle University to transform the former General Hospital site into a leading research centre for the development of healthy ageing. The Health Innovation Neighbourhood will include the delivery of specialist housing solutions that promote longer, healthier lives.

Alongside Springfield, the Velindre Cancer Centre and the Health Innovation Neighbourhood demonstrate how significant and multifaceted projects can be unlocked through shared expertise enabled by public-private collaboration. When built around a vision for the people at the heart of communities, these partnerships are crucial for delivering social infrastructure that accurately meets the needs of current and future communities.