It’s set to take 60,000 bricks, 450 workers and 1.5 million hours of man power.

And as work forges ahead on the new Manor Hospital, the Express & Star got a glimpse around the site that will become the centrepiece of local healthcare.

These images show how the finished building will look when it opens in just over a year’s time. They show a large glass atrium, which will encompass a cafe and seating area, while another depicts the concourse of the hospital. Three large cranes dominate the skyline at the sprawling 77,000 sq ft site, off Pleck Road.

Around 150 workers are currently on site busily bringing the long-awaited £174 million scheme to life.

The site is a bustling hive of activity as concrete pillars are emerging from the ground, walls are springing up and the skeleton of the new building is taking shape, as around 20 lorries come in and out of the site every day.

The new hospital will boast a women’s, children’s and young person’s centre, a first floor diagnostic and treatment centre and a multi-professional education centre.

A domed roof, made from polycarbonate, will top the new building, shedding lots of light on the interior.

And the dream will finally become a reality when the new hospital opens in two phases in 2010, with the women’s and children’s centre, which will be linked to the existing maternity wing, set to open in May, and the diagnostic treatment centre due to follow in September.

Contractors Skanska are working round the clock to ensure the new hospital is ready for its opening date.

Once the new site is up and running, work will begin on demolishing the old 1950s hospital buildings, which will be flattened to make way for 1,300 car parking spaces.

David Lawson is director of estates and hospital redevelopment for the hospital trust. He said: “Hospitals are probably the highest-tech building we can get.

“They’re very complicated because there isn’t much that’s not in a hospital.”

Preparation for the building work began in November last year. The south wing was demolished in February and March and the famous link bridge between the west and south wing was also removed.