The Rob Burrow MND Centre

Healthcare - The North, England

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The Rob Burrow MND Centre

Project Overview

The Rob Burrow Centre for Motor Neurone Disease is a purpose-built facility located at Seacroft Hospital in Leeds bringing together specialist care, research and support services for MND under one roof. The building is arranged around a central atrium forming the main reception linking two clinical wings that accommodate therapy and consultation rooms at ground level with staff offices and wellbeing spaces above.

Designed to feel warm and non-institutional, the centre utilises pitched roof forms and extensive glazing that promotes daylight and transparency throughout the structure.

Landscaped gardens, accessible routes and sensory planting integrate the building with its surroundings creating a therapeutic and inclusive environment that prioritises comfort, dignity and connection for patients, families and staff.

The structural and civil design was developed to deliver a robust, efficient and coordinated solution that balanced buildability and sustainability within the constraints of a live hospital environment.

Services we provided:

Civils & Structures
Transport Planning
Geotechnical & Environmental

Client:

Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust

We worked with:

Architect | Corstorphine & Wright

QS | Currie & Brown

Contractor | I&G

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The Challenge

Combined drainage run crossed directly beneath the proposed building. Leaving it in place could have compromised the foundation layout and would have limited future maintenance.

Our Solution

We developed and coordinated a full diversion strategy, replacing the existing system with new 1200 mm diameter PCC pipework outside the new building footprint, maintaining gradients and hydraulic capacity. This work was sequenced early as an enabling package to avoid delaying the main works and ensured the hospital’s drainage remained fully operational throughout construction.

Sustainability

MMC offsite manufacturing of superstructure elements including SIPs panels and Glulam frame.
Long span glulam frame provides flexibility for internal reconfiguration over the building’s life cycle showing future adaptability of the structure.
Glulam frame designed with reuse potential in mind, to align with circular economy principles.
Sustainable drainage features were integrated throughout the site, including permeable paving and geocellular attenuation tanks that control discharge to the existing combined network and reduce peak flows.

Project Highlights

Supported BREEAM Excellent aspirations through material optimisation, rationalised reinforcement, offsite fabrication and opportunities for future adaptability.
Adopted a glulam frame and SIP superstructure, selected through a formal options appraisal for its low embodied carbon, speed of erection and material efficiency.
Diverted a major combined drainage run crossing the building footprint, replacing it with new 1200 mm PCC pipework while retaining hydraulic performance and protecting the estate network.
Embedded sustainable drainage measures including permeable paving and attenuation tanks to restrict discharge to the hospital’s combined network.
Integrated beam-and-block flooring to provide a robust, efficient and low-waste ground-floor system compatible with the site’s variable ground conditions.
Incorporated heave protection adjacent to mature trees, retaining existing landscape features while mitigating future ground movement