A new 10-storey 670 bed acute hospital of over 80,000sqm, being delivered on a 16-acre site. The hospital has been designed to meet the best international and national standards to make it truly patient focused and to support efficient delivery of high-quality clinical services.

The project comprises several innovative design features, including a fully enclosed winter garden and car parking within the hospital building. The new facility replaces two existing hospitals, which were no longer fit for purpose and did not meet modern healthcare best practice. The structure comprises a 10-storey tower split into three fingers, with a feature structural roof at the front of the building.

The new facilities will include:

• 670 bed facility
• 30 bed Critical Care Unit
• Neonatal
• Coronary care
• Adult assessment
• High dependency unit theatres including trauma
• Emergency department
• Maternity
• Scanning facilities including MRI and CT
• Outpatient facilities
• Research and education centre
• Parking facilities on the ground and first floors

The development area is bounded to the north, west and south by highways and by a canal to the east. An overland flow path was provided between the canal and area south of the site due to the presence of a flooding culverted watercourse.

Our strategy included a green roof, oversized pipes, geocellular attenuation tanks and a storage basin. Designs also accounted for an increased climate change allowance to ensure the hospital maintained operational in all events. The drainage network was designed to handle flows that were contaminated with waste from the mortuary, radiology and hazard containment departments, which provided particular challenges to design work.

Key points:

• UK Government BIM Level 2 exemplar project
• One of the most complex healthcare projects delivered in the UK
• The project has been developed through OBC process