A supersurgery providing healthcare services for thousands of people will open next year.

Developers of the £1.7 million site in unused grounds of Carden Primary School in Brighton have made it as green and energy efficient as possible.

The two-storey building will bring together GP practices currently based in Carden Avenue and Warmdene Road which will work as separate organisations.

They will have eight doctors and a team of seven nurses between them covering a population of around 15,000 people.

The new surgery will also be able to offer services such as an on-site pharmacy, foot health clinics and a range of specialist outpatient services for which people would previously have had to travel to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Eastern Road.

The aim is part of longer term plans to provide more services in the community and ease the pressures at the overstretched Royal Sussex.

Brighton and Hove City Primary Care Trust chief executive Darren Grayson said: "This is the latest development in a carefully planned approach to investment in local healthcare for the residents of Brighton and Hove.

"I am pleased that we have been able to work with the city council and the developers Ashley House to come up with this innovative solution to finding the right site for this part of the city.

"I am proud that this will be a green building, setting a new standard for all our premises improvements."

The eco-friendly surgery includes using solar panels to power the heating and hot water and having a lighting system in corridors that go on when someone comes in and automatically turns off when there is nobody around.

The site was originally put forward by the school when the head teacher heard that a suitable location within Patcham was proving impossible to find.

Two open meetings were held for the local community to discuss the development before any plans were submitted to the council.

Warmdene's Deneway branch surgery will be unaffected by the new development.

In a joint statement, Naz Khan from the surgery in Warmdene Road and Jonathan Halford form Carden Avenue said: "We are very proud to have been closely involved with this project, which reflects the future strategic clinical direction of primary care for the 21st century."

This is a third party development in which Ashley House build and lease back the premises to the practices and the PCT will then pay the rent.

Ashely House project contracts manager David Milburn said: "We have done what we can to make the building energy efficient and reduce its impact and we are pleased with the results."

The work is expected to take 50 weeks to complete and the surgery is scheduled to open in the spring or summer of 2008.