Building delivered on budget and ahead of schedule for George Eliot Hospital
A new 30-bed ward for orthopaedic elective and general elective patients has opened at George Eliot Hospital as part of the trust’s five-year estate improvement strategy.
Wernick Buildings was appointed under a pre-contract services agreement to design the building through to RIBA Stage 3.
And, after demonstrating they could provide an economically-viable, single-storey solution, the firm was formally appointed as principal contractor.
By engaging with a modular provider before producing a design, the hospital was able to take full advantage of the benefits of modular construction, which include maximising the amount of fitout that could take place in the factory to reduce time on site.
It also facilitated closer collaboration on the specialist requirements of the building, for example using the hospital’s preferred contractors to provide medical gases.
Manufacturing the building in a factory environment gave the project several advantages.
Firstly, the building could be constructed while the foundations were being prepared, drastically reducing programme length.
And manufacture was also not affected by site conditions like the weather, making the programme even more reliable.
The building is comprised of 33 modules, including a unit to link the new wards to an existing building on site.
Manufactured in Wernick’s factory in Port Talbot, the modules were transported to site by lorry, then craned into position and bolted together to form the complete building.
While the initial programme was 20 weeks, the outbreak of the Coronavirus made the hospital’s requirement more urgent.
And, by working longer hours and weekends, Wernick was able to condense the programme to 14 weeks.
The completed single-story building, delivered on time and on budget, consists of 1,000sq m of gross internal floorspace.
The fitout also includes bedhead trunking incorporating medical gases, nurse call systems, access control and CCTV, fire escape ramps and nurse stations.
Externally, the building is finished to match existing buildings on site.
