This project is a regenerative project and integrated health hub. The new community development incorporates 3 GP practices providing routine primary medical services and support for long-term conditions as well as offering access to a wider range of other primary care services such as clinical pharmacists, physiotherapists and mental health practitioners who can all act as a first point of contact for patients.
The Little Lever Library and Health Centre will be situated on the site of the former Tesco Metro on Foundry Street. It will replace the town’s existing, 40-year-old health centre which has been deemed no longer fit-for-use by Bolton NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
The new 1,206 sq. m. steel frame and brick building will boast a contemporary library space and state-of-the-art NHS health centre.
The project responds to the local area’s demand for community-led spaces, publicly-accessible computer facilities and flexible spaces suitable for all.
The welcoming exterior integrates seamlessly into the public realm, inviting interaction and allowing for full accessibility to all members of the community. Those with disabilities, as well as those with prams, young children, and the elderly are carefully considered in the design.
There will be window and pod seating, with areas to socialise. The kids’ library will have creative integrated storage units, playful seating zones, and interactive reading spaces.
The GP practices, though integrated, are distinct and easily identifiable with individual hut reception areas.
The new facilities require a BREEAM Very Good rating.
Work to demolish the current building took place in the first week of August 2020 after the pandemic halted the work, with the foundations of the centre being laid soon after.
Plans to turn the supermarket into a modern new facility have been in the pipeline since the store moved from Market Street to Crossley Street at the end of 2014. In October 2018, Bolton Council chiefs gave the go-ahead for the building to be demolished to make way for a purpose-built facility.
