The Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) has marked a crucial milestone in the construction of The Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children, as a topping out ceremony was held to mark the moment when the building reached its highest point, said a report.

The centre, a partnership between the Gosh, University College London (UCL) and Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, is the first purpose built facility-of-its-kind in the world.

The topping out event was celebrated with a traditional Scandinavian ‘flying of the fir’ in which a fir tree was flown over the building by tower crane, as well as a final pouring of cement, in a rooftop ceremony.

Located in London adjacent to Great Ormond Street Hospital and the UCL Institute of Child Health, The Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children is due for completion by the end of 2018, reported state news agency Wam.

Gosh said work has begun on the interior of the centre, which will house state-of-the-art laboratories and highly-specialised facilities for the development of new gene and stem cell therapies as well as a much-needed outpatient clinic.

Designed by award-winning architects Stanton Williams, construction of the building began in 2017 by Swedish contractor Skanska, who is responsible for the construction, mechanical and electrical fit-out of the facility.

Around 4,200 cu m of concrete will be used to build the frame weighing 10,500 tonnes besides 520 tonnes of steel for the building structure and 5,000 m of drywall partitions.

The facility will boast 13,000 sq m of floor space and 2,500 sq m of glass within the external walls besides a Breeam rating of excellence, said the Wam report.

The ceremony was attended by Sulaiman Hamid Al Mazrouei, UAE Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Professor Maha Barakat, Advisor to the Executive Council of the Government of Abu Dhabi and a number of officials from the Government of Abu Dhabi, it added.