The listed infrastructure investment company, HICL Infrastructure has announced an investment of £1.9 million in the development of the new Birmingham Dental Hospital & School of Dentistry.

The Project, to be developed by Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust together with its partners the University of Birmingham, Birmingham and Solihull LIFT (BaS LIFT) and Calthorpe Estates, is the first integrated, stand-alone dental hospital and dental school to be built in the UK for almost 40 years.Construction of the Project, which will take place on the former BBC Pebble Mill studios site in central Birmingham, is seen as a key element of the new Edgbaston Medical Quarter as well as further enhancing the City's reputation as a hub of Medicine, Learning and Life Sciences.

The Project, which involves the construction of a new 15,465m² four-storey dental hospital and school of dentistry, will house a range of services for the public including walk-in emergency dental care, Restorative Dentistry, Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Orthodontics and Paediatric Dentistry. Construction of the new building will be undertaken by Galliford Try and is expected to be completed by Autumn 2015.

BaS LIFT is jointly owned by Prime LIFT Investments Ltd and Community Health Partnerships (Department of Health); Prime LIFT Investments Ltd is a joint venture between HICL Infrastructure and Prime plc.

The Project is the fifteenth new health facility to be developed and financed by BaS LIFT over the last nine years and is one of the largest facilities to have been developed under the NHS LIFT initiative.