HEALTHCARE CONSTRUCTION
ModuleCo’s award-winning operating theatres are designed ‘with the patient and clinical team at the centre of the company’s endeavours’. Right: A theatre and the accompanying scrub and anaesthetic room.
Modular vs. ‘Traditional’
As a consequence, it wasn’t long before the option of traditional construction was eliminated. Along with a shopping list of logistical challenges, it became abundantly clear that the traditional construction route could also take anywhere up to two years, and that the costs were simply implausible. Now, whatever your experience of modular buildings, I can tell you that they are not the same animal they once were. In fact, if you’re lucky, like we were, to meet a group of people who genuinely put the patient’s recovery at the centre of their designs, then you are essentially presented with a blank canvas to create a quality, leading-edge – and indeed a more versatile – facility than any traditional build could offer.
When we met the team at ModuleCo, we already knew the company had a healthy track record and history of providing premium facilities to the NHS, but what set it apart was its level of credible confidence in approaching a project of this size and complexity. What followed was a pretty intense schedule of meetings, where ModuleCo’s in-house design team took the high-level requirements, forensically examined the logistical challenges of designing a large and remarkably complex project, and
then created a path forward. There was, however, also the issue of money; the NHS is under exceptional financial pressure, with capital expenditure being squeezed from all angles. This project was thus not going to be an easy ask, but together with the team at ModuleCo and its procurement partners at ModuleCo Healthcare, we agreed a two-phase approach, where we could effectively lease the facilities by leveraging revenue generated by the hospital over a 10-year period.
Zero capital expenditure on day one it was genuinely that simple; we had ‘zero’ capital expenditure on ‘day one’, and a clear path forward to build two state-of- the-art operating theatres, anaesthetic rooms, and a six-bed recovery unit attached to our existing theatre block. Working together, as a team, saw Phase One delivered on time. This included two premium operating theatres, 12 beds on the first floor (two four-bedded bays), and four single rooms, and with minimal disruption to the Hospital. To this very moment, I still view this as a remarkable accomplishment by everyone involved. Jonathan Brindley, who headed up the engagement on behalf of ModuleCo, summarised it well when he said: “When most organisations explore the respective
merits of ‘Traditional’ and ‘Modular’ construction, it’s easy to miss the ‘softer’ benefits which can have a profound impact on the outcome of a project, particularly when you’re working with busy hospitals, where continuity is absolutely key.”
Modular’s ‘incredible versatility’ He continued: “This is where modular construction solidifies its place at the table. Due to the obscure location of the facility, our in-house, architect-led design team used its experience to adapt our original design, using varying module sizes, to maximise the available 2,208 m2
footprint,
offering incredible versatility. When almost 90 per cent of a project can be designed, manufactured, and tested offsite in controlled factory conditions, you have the ability to vastly improve the quality control process, in addition to alleviating significant pressure from the hospital staff who are performing critical work, and cannot be disrupted by noisy and invasive construction work. The drastic reduction in onsite activity also means fewer delivery trucks, reduced noise, and a lower overall environmental impact – due to factors ranging from fewer vehicles, to the volume of waste generated. The need for a more proactive, climate-friendly approach also isn’t confined to this project; we’re
May 2021 Health Estate Journal 61
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