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PROJECT REPORT: HEALTHCARE BUILDINGS
CATERING FOR STAFF & PATIENTS Patients and staff will be able to use a timber-enhanced restaurant adjacent to one of the entrances
says Woodford, due to the approach they have taken of using lead-lined blocks, which also provides flexibility for future changes of configuration.
PROJECT FACTFILE Client: Velindre University NHS Trust/ Sacyr UK Consortium: Kajima Partnerships, Sacyr, Aberdeen, Andrew Scott, Kier Facilities Services, White Arkitekter, Ingho, Hydroc, BAC, MJ Medical, Turley, Studio Response, Camlins Landscape Architects, Osborne Clarke, Operis, Confab Lab Floor area: 36,000 m2 Dates: Competition win July 2022, start on site 2024 Awards: European Healthcare Design Award 2022
Once the practice knew that the wings were going to be in concrete, they delved into the more sustainable alternatives that would be possible, as “alternatives to traditional plaster board and metsec,” as Woodford characterises it. Hempcrete uses natural hemp and lime to help create structures which balance moisture while donating other thermal benefits. “It sounds a bit like a wonder material, but it’s very low tech, you build a frame and you put blocks in with lime mortar and you build a wall.” Although not as much was used as White had hoped on this project, hempcrete still provides a good deal of the structure.
Conclusion Woodford says that over his several years working on this complex project, it became apparent that architectural success in a healthcare building might be about a different, and more fundamental set of values from the aesthetics-based ones that designers are traditionally taught to prioritise. This could partly explain why in his view, designing for healthcare functions isn’t given the respect that it truly deserves, including in
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the mainstream architectural media. “I think the trouble with architecture in general is that we’re very focused on the object and what it looks like,” he says. “And healthcare is not really about the object, it’s about the system, the technical arrangement and also the impact it has on people and outcomes.” He adds: “If you design something really well and efficiently, where people want to work and like to work and patients feel better, there are direct correlations with you staff retention, staff employment, and patient health and wellbeing.”
The hospital is scheduled to open in
2027, when it will show the NHS that it’s possible to realise a treatment facility using a large amount of mass timber, because it’s good for people, and it’s worth the extra investment required. In the end, just because health buildings and cancer facilities in particular will increasingly require a large amount of high-tech equipment to help treat people, those buildings do not simply have to be housings for that equipment. All of the investment is for people to get well, so the buildings need to be funded on that basis too, to bring the wellness benefits that can help. Putting timber to the fore shows it’s the ultimate feel-good material, and can house the most intensive healthcare facilities beautifully. g
ADF OCTOBER 2024
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