With 3,000 public and private sites totalling 60 to 65 million square metres and a nearly 408,000-bed capacity, France’s swiftly changing hospital sector offers civil engineering firms and property developers major outlets and opportunities, from modernisation or expansion projects to innovation, product digitalisation and upgrading to tighter safety standards. Bouygues Construction is well established on this fiercely competitive market, which requires creating horizontal offers to remain competitive. “Hospitals are the group’s biggest activity in France after housing,” says Claude Rolland, head of the health unit at Bouygues Entreprises France-Europe.

The past 10 years have been spent answering public construction tenders but also and especially designing and building projects. The goal is to be as far upstream in the value chain as possible in order to control the technical design and feasibility, construction, production costs and deadlines. Surrounded by the top experts in their areas of competence (architects, engineering firms, consulting agencies, etc.), Bouygues Construction also forges close partnerships with sub-contractors, thereby participating in the economic development of the areas in which it operates. We have designed and built or rebuilt 91 buildings since 2002.

Like connected cities, hospitals are changing and look nothing like they did 10 years ago. Patient care and building design have embraced new technology in order to give users better service and control operating costs.

Beyond patient care, a host of building innovation possibilities exists. The development of BIM and industrialisation of construction techniques pre-empts this sector in order to offer efficient, profitable and personalised buildings. Another area has been identified: taking health/wellness into account in the design of urban projects. Linkcity designs urban neighbourhood revitalisation projects that integrate services, shops and a health centre to meet users’ needs. Bouygues Bâtiment also relies on the experience of Bouygues Energies et Services to offer connected sites in the smart city of Dijon.

Better informed and equipped with digital tools, patients have become actors in their health and wellness. Consequently, healthcare facilities offer personalised admission and care depending on the patient and his or her pathologies. A 3.0 hospital offers a high level of finishes and personalisation guaranteeing optimal comfort. The teams propose beam-free structures to facilitate the synthesis of technical networks, adiabatic cooling, installation of fibre as close to outlets as possible, smart sites in the image of the connected city and hotel-standard interior architecture to offer spaces geared to 21st-century technology.