ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
Challenging path to ‘UK’s most sustainable hospital’
ACORN, a consortium led by developer and investor Kajima, in partnership with Sacyr, ABDN, and lead designer, White Arkitekter, have been selected to deliver the Velindre Cancer Centre in South Wales, reportedly set to become the UK’s most sustainable hospital. Richard Coe, Project director at Kajima, and Michael Woodford, Partner at White Arkitekter, discuss their plans for what they dub ‘a ground-breaking project that integrates sustainable design and material innovation, community inclusion, and a commitment to preserving the environment, setting a new standard for healthcare design in the UK’.
Located in Whitchurch, a suburb north of Cardiff, the new Velindre Cancer Centre aims to make Wales a world-leader in cancer treatment. The brief set by Velindre University NHS Trust was challenging, outlining hugely ambitious targets in terms of sustainability, and ensuring that what is delivered will serve the people of South Wales for many future generations. Our approved proposals for the project were developed to ensure that it has the minimum impact on the surrounding environment of the development site, and provides a practical, elegant facility where patients, staff, and the local community, can feel welcome and unrestricted.
Landscape-led
One of the important aspects of our design is the commitment to the landscape design, which aims to preserve the rich, natural surroundings with minimum impact on the site. Rather than imposing a new vision on the landscape, the approach set by our landscape architect, Camlins, is to ‘keep it wild’ – by retaining existing habitats and creating habitat gradients, transitioning seamlessly from woodland to clearings of highly biodiverse wildflower meadows. The design also features Welsh apple tree orchards, a community kitchen garden, play areas, and numerous walking, cycling, and relaxation spaces, all contributing to making the site sustainable for people and the surrounding natural environment. The plans for the hospital building are
intended to be welcoming, open, and practical. Cancer treatment can be lengthy,
‘‘
White Arkitekter says ‘one of the important aspects’ of the Velindre Cancer Centre’s design is ‘the commitment to the landscape design, which aims to preserve the rich, natural surroundings with minimum impact on the site’.
both for in- and outpatients, so it’s vital that patients and their families feel comfortable. The expansive entrance space, featuring generous ceiling heights, and natural light and materials, is known as the ‘Lolfa’ (Welsh for ‘lounge’), and is thoughtfully designed to help patients and visitors feel safe, reassured, and comfortable, with a diverse range of functions – including patient transport waiting areas, young person’s lounges, and cafés. When setting the brief for the Cancer
Centre, the Trust asked for designs to be rooted in the Vitruvian principles of efficiency, simplicity, and clarity. Our building is designed to be fit-for-purpose, strong, and long-lasting, with form following function, and the flexibility to adapt to the needs of future generations.
The Trust asked for designs to be rooted in the Vitruvian principles of efficiency, simplicity, and clarity. Our building is designed to be fit-for- purpose, strong, and long-lasting, with form following function, and the flexibility to adapt to the needs of future generations
The façade design, based on a standard grid, will enable internal spaces to be easily reconfigured across floorplates without the need for costly structural alterations, allowing the building to respond to the space requirements of future innovation in treatment and equipment. The two-storey basement parking garage includes a large 1,200 m2
area
that can be converted into clinical space without heavy construction work. At the same time, the upper floors have ample structural and spatial capacity to expand the administration areas for adjacent clinical spaces.
Our design and building positioning
work in harmony with the site levels, minimising cut area, and giving the basement an efficient and compact form to minimise the volume and align with the structure of the foundations. This effectively means we can fit out this space for a very low cost, without the need for structural works.
Efficient interdepartmental adjacencies Our proposal delivers the most efficient interdepartmental adjacencies, with the flexibility to be reconfigured for
January 2024 Health Estate Journal 81
All photos used courtesy of White Arkitekter
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