Kier's work to support the development of the new H50 high containment building at the UK Health Security Campus in Harlow has restarted, following the reactivation of its Pre-Construction Services Agreement with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

The announcement was made by Kier Group plc in a press release dated 26 October 2026.

Kier agreement reinstated for complex projects

The reinstatement of the agreement reflects, according to the company, Kier's experience in delivering complex, highly regulated environments, bringing together its construction, engineering, and MEP services expertise to support customers from concept through to operation.

H50 facility to house CL3 and CL4 laboratories

The new facility, known as H50, will provide laboratories for Containment Level 3 (CL3) and Containment Level 4 (CL4) pathogens, supporting the UK's ability to protect the country from the most dangerous infectious disease threats.

The facility forms part of the wider UK Health Security Campus (UKHSC) programme, which Kier describes as central to UKHSA's long-term transformation. The programme is intended to enable the agency to modernise its estate, safeguard essential capabilities, build resilience, and bring teams together more effectively on a single campus.

The campus as a whole is designed to provide modern and resilient facilities, helping to ensure the continuity of UKHSA's critical scientific and health security services, strengthen emergency preparedness and national resilience, and improve collaboration and productivity.

Consolidation backed by USD 4.70 billion of funding

As part of the 2025 Spending Review, ministers took the strategic decision to move UKHSA's specialist scientific facilities from Porton Down, Colindale, and its London corporate headquarters onto one site at Harlow by 2038, with USD 4.70 billion of funding announced for the programme.

Under the current expectations for the wider programme, early works are set to begin in 2028, with main construction works starting in the fourth quarter of 2029 and the UK Health Security Campus complete and in service by 2038.

Contractor perspective

Spencer Baber, managing director for Kier Strategic Projects, said, "We're proud to continue our work with UKHSA on a programme that will play a vital role in protecting the country from the most serious public health threats. H50 is a highly complex facility, and, as a key delivery partner to Government, this is exactly the type of project where Kier's breadth of experience and expertise comes to the fore, supporting the development of world-class scientific facilities that will help strengthen the UK's future health security."

Kier's involvement comes through its Strategic Projects division, which the company positions as capable of supporting the development of complex scientific facilities for government customers.

Client perspective from UKHSA

Martin Sellar, Director and UK Health Security Campus Senior Responsible Owner at UKHSA, said, "This brand-new facility will bring together UKHSA's world-leading public health science and emergency response capabilities, putting us in a stronger position to protect the public and keep people safe. We're looking forward to working alongside a range of specialist partners to deliver this vital programme, which will help us offer the best possible protection for people's health for generations to come."

Sellar's comments underline the agency's framing of the H50 building and the wider campus as a means of consolidating scientific and emergency response capabilities onto a single site, with the programme described as vital to public health protection over the long term.

Programme context

The reactivation of the Pre-Construction Services Agreement returns Kier to a central role in the early stages of the H50 high containment building's development, ahead of the wider programme's expected timeline of early works from 2028 and main construction from late 2029.

The consolidation of facilities from Porton Down, Colindale, and London onto the Harlow site by 2038 is funded through the USD 4.70 billion announced at the 2025 Spending Review, and the campus is intended to be complete and in service by that date.

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