HEALTHCARE FOCUS


BIM’S THE PRESCRIPTION SAHLGRENSKA HOSPITAL, GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN


Sahlgrenska Hospital’s new Centre of Image and Intervention will use the very latest diagnostic technologies to detect diseases such as cancer and heart disease at an early stage, providing patients with better care and reducing the need for major surgery. Due to open in 2015, the SEK1.3bn building will include operating theatres with imaging technologies such as x-ray, ultrasound and magnetic resonance, a cyclotron with hot lab for treating cancers, and a central sterilisation supply department.


Such complex project calls for the latest construction imaging technology too. WSP is lead consultant for structures, electrical, geotechnics, surveying and acoustics, providing a multidisciplinary team with not only a great deal of experience of designing healthcare facilities, but of using Building Information Modelling (BIM) to deliver these projects.


“One of the main challenges on this project is a huge amount


of equipment that must be fitted into a very confined space,” explains Henrik Carlsson, department manager at WSP Construction Design in Gothenburg. “The accuracy of the data is therefore crucial, and the ability to visualise the project


provides an environment for testing before construction – essential to avoid expensive mistakes.”


BIM has been used throughout the design as a common platform between the architect, WSP’s structural and electrical engineers, and the building services engineers too. The model incorporates a number of different software packages, such as TeklaStructures and Solibiri, used to detect clashes between different elements of the building. The whole design is carried out in three dimensions and imported into a common model using open-source IFC code.


Using BIM has not only enabled the design partners to solve problems early in the design process, saving both time and money, it is also been invaluable in many workshops between the client and the design team, says Carlsson: “The model helps everyone to work within the engineering constraints to provide the best possible solution to the medical requirements of the project.”


henrik.c.carlsson@wspgroup.se


A HEALTHY DOSE OF SOLAR ENERGY ECHUCA REGIONAL HOSPITAL, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA


WSP is breaking new ground in hospital design at the Echuca Regional Hospital in Victoria, Australia, where it has designed the country’s largest array of evacuated tube solar collectors.


The hospital has been in operation since 1882, and could no longer run some of its older, most inefficient air-conditioning equipment on very hot days. “Our primary objective was to reduce the overall power consumption,” explains Marthinus Noyce, associate director at WSP in Melbourne. “The target was a necessity, it wasn’t only to reduce their emissions.”


The solar hot water collectors provide hot water at a temperature of 95°C to an absorption chiller, which allows the hospital to reduce the use of an existing air-cooled electric chiller, meeting the building’s demands without expensive upgrades to its energy supply. The project was funded partly by Sustainability Victoria, which supports innovative pilot projects. With a solar field covering 300m² and a peak design output of 220kW, the roof- mounted panels were intended to reduce the building’s electricity consumption by 1,373MWh per year. Now operational for 14 months, initial indications show it has exceeded the target, and that it will cut greenhouse gas emissions by around 1,400 tonnes per year.


08 SOLUTIONS


The Melbourne office has designed several cooling plants using absorption chillers connected to waste heat sources, but this was their first solar chilling project. It was also one of the first projects they had delivered using BIM technology for every aspect, which made for a steep learning curve. The solar field and mechanical plant were modelled using Autodesk Revit software, enabling the team to prepare presentation- grade graphics and videos. “Preparing technical information in understandable manner to present the various stakeholders was one of our biggest challenges,” says Noyce. “We found BIM was an excellent tool for providing a realistic virtual view that non-technical people could understand.”


The team found themselves specifying equipment that was not readily available in Echuca, and originally their favoured technology was from the US and had not been tested in Australia before. “In the end, we opted for existing technology which the funder was comfortable with,” says Noyce. “We produced a design that the client was able to implement with confidence, and which has still yielded the paybacks we needed. This project demonstrates WSP’s willingness to cooperate with different agencies to achieve a desirable outcome.”


Indeed, the relationship the team has built with the hospital is continuing. WSP is now designing a new emergency department, pharmacy, inpatient accommodation and an imaging department, and the work it has already completed is informing key design decisions on this major extension.


marthinus.noyce@wspgroup.com.au

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