£1bn scheme to rebuild Bart's and Royal London

Two of London's most historic hospitals, Bart's and the Royal London in Whitechapel, are to be restored and extended with major new facilities.

The £1billion private finance initiative scheme will be the largest health project in Britain.

Planning applications have been submitted to the City Corporation and Tower Hamlets by the Bart's and The London NHS trust and developer Skanska Innisfree.

Bart's, Britain's oldest hospital, is housed in a Georgian Grade I listed building. It will be fully refurbished and the square in front of the entrance transformed back to its original 18th-century vision as an open, paved piazza.

A major new building will provide 343 additional beds and a state-of-the-art cancer and cardiac centre of excellence.

The Royal London will be developed into the country's biggest hospital-with 905 beds in its new buildings. It will also house Europe's largest accident and emergency department.

The design is centred on two tall glass buildings above a podium block with a central "health mall".

The developers hope to have planning permission in the autumn so that construction can begin on both sites next January.

Under the PFI, Skanska Innisfree will be responsible for the construction of the hospitals and their operation for the next 30 years.