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healthcare build & design special report


Clock View’s entrance acts as a lantern, illuminating the approach


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Architect: Medical Architecture Client: Liverpool and Sefton Health Partnership, Mersey Care NHS Trust Main contractors: Farrans, Heron Brothers Structural and services engineer: Arup Landscape architects: Camlin Lonsdale, Tony Danford Artwork direction: David Mackie and Heather Parnell Interior Design: Medical Architecture


User engagement


Medical Architecture had been evolving the project for many years with clients Liverpool and Sefton Health Partnership (LSHP) and Mersey Care NHS Trust, as part of a drive to upgrade and replace outdated mental healthcare facilities in the area. Work leading to business case approval commenced in


2009, with planning approval granted January 2011. Main contractor FHJV, a joint venture between Farrans and Heron Brothers, completed the work in 22 months and Clock View opened its doors last year. Mersey Care took a highly proactive approach to user


involvement in design development, with carers and user representatives contributing to the design team and arts group meetings. “This approach was highly significant in guiding the


development of both the planning strategy and building design,” says Medical Architecture founding Director Christopher Shaw. “The user/carer viewpoint gave us a real world outlook,


adding authenticity to design features and grit to some of the value-engineering. More subtly, a user presence ensured the design team made technical decisions that could be both understood and justified.” He adds: “We worked closely with Mersey Care and its


Clinical Project Director, Modern Matron Noirin Smith, which meant resolution of detailed design went hand-in-hand with service and operational planning.” Working with clinical users to agree final room and


equipment layouts took many months longer than planned but were pivotal in building a sense of ownership.


Materials and structure


There were continual capital and revenue cost pressures on the project. Mechanical and services engineering systems were


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greatly simplified and planned photovoltaic and solar thermal systems were too costly. The central ventilation plant with heat recovery was


reconfigured to a hotel-like arrangement with individual vents and no recovery. The planned green roof was omitted and single-ply membrane used. However, the planned building fabric cost effective


and resilient, super-insulated timber panel cassette system was retained. Dry construction using off-site timber panels and metal


studwork for internal partitioning – combined with in-situ concrete – provides robustness and acoustic performance while allowing fast construction and an early first-stage mechanical and electrical fix. The main entrance features deep structural veneer


laminated (SVL) timber spandrels with curtain walling. The external finish is white acrylic render, this is low maintenance and maximises the reflection of daylight in courtyards. Solid hardwood windows punctuate the elevations and add warmth and a non-institutional feel to the design.


Site challenges


The site had been occupied by redundant medical buildings and, although well located, it posed a number of challenges for the architects. It is fairly constrained for the car parking and accommoda-


tion required, while the L-shaped site geometry made organisation awkward. The change of level across the site, with a large in-situ concrete retaining structure already existing at the rear, limits the aspect. It also has an unprotected boundary on two sides destined for future residential use. In response, the design evolved from a building of separate


elements to a linked pavilion-type layout. It has a single, controlling entrance point going into a two-storey spine that connects the single-storey pavilions. The spine contains Continued on page 36...


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