LOW CARBON DESIGN
UK’s ‘greenesthealth centre’ is now open to patients
A facility said to be the UK’s greenest health centre built to meet Passivhaus certification – Foleshill Heath Centre in Coventry – has opened its doors to patients. Julian Humphreys, Community Health Partnerships’ Programme manager, and the Delivery lead for the Centre – who has been involved since approval of the Outline Business Case in August 2018 – reports.
The £3.3 million project is a partnership between DHSC-owned Community Health Partnerships (CHP) and NHS Coventry and Warwickshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), and the new tenants, Foleshill Surgery – a GP practice, and part of Coventry and Rugby GP Alliance, have now moved in. The Foleshill Heath Centre has five consulting rooms and two treatment rooms, and serves an area of Coventry with high health needs. Foleshill is the first and only British healthcare building awaiting
*What is Passivhaus?
Passivhaus is the leading international low energy design standard. Passivhaus buildings provide a high level of occupant comfort while using very little energy for heating and cooling. They are built with meticulous attention to detail and rigorous design and construction, according to principles developed by the Passivhaus Institut in Germany, and are certified via an exacting independent quality assurance process.
certification to the globally recognised Passivhaus* standard. This is the first time that NHSE&I has approved this type of building for the NHS in England, following a detailed scrutiny process. Foleshill not only leads the way for carbon emissions reduction in this type of building, but also demonstrates its potential for repetition and upscaling across the future health estate, contributing to the NHS carbon Net Zero target, and supporting its aim to be the world’s first Net Zero national health service.
Construction
The project team used project management principles and processes subsequently included within the Government’s December 2020 Construction Playbook, which captures Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), commercial best practices, and sector reforms. The centre is one of the most energy-efficient buildings in the NHS estate, and was constructed on site in just 25 weeks, significantly quicker than a traditionally constructed building. It was built with Portakabin modules specially
The build timeline 7 July 2020
Final Business Case approval. 1 September 2020
Groundwork began onsite at Foleshill. 3 August 2020
Module construction begins at Portakabin’s facility in York.
7 December 2020
14 specially designed modules are finished in only 18 weeks.
2 December 2020
Foundations cast at Foleshill. 9-11 December 2020
Delivery and installation of 14 specially designed Portakabin modules.
16 December 2020
Building watertight in three days. January to May 2021
Construction continues at Foleshill, with windows, and internal and external doors added.
Fixtures and fittings were added, along with stairs and a lift.
10 February 2021
Power for the building and the plumbing are connected. Insulation took 14 weeks to install, and exceeds the Building Regulations fabric insulation values by about 40%. It acts as a ‘tea cosy’, keeping the building warm in winter, and cool in summer.
March to May 2021
Three air tests for Passivhaus certification.
May 2021
Solar panels fixed on the roof. 4 June 2021
Practical completion. 6 August 2021
The GP team moves into Foleshill Health Centre.
9 August 2021
Foleshill Health Centre is the first and only British healthcare building awaiting certification to the globally recognised Passivhaus standard.
Foleshill Surgery team begin seeing patients.
September 2021 Health Estate Journal 57
©Beth Walsh Photography
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88
