Birmingham Superhospital handed over 4 months ahead of schedule
08.04.10
The H&K team working on Birmingham New Hospital Project are delighted to learn that Phase 1A of the phased handover achieved zero defects, 4 MONTHS ahead of schedule. This handover, which consists of the majority of services at Selly Oak, including A&E, day case and inpatient move to the new hospital, was scheduled for handover in June. Congratulations to everyone involved in the project that helped to make the handover a success. In the world of superhospitals, Birmingham is right near the top of the big numbers league. At £585m, it’s the biggest PFI hospital under construction outside London. When fully operational the 137,000m2 scheme will have 1,200 beds, 30 operating theatres, 300 teaching rooms and the largest critical care unit in Europe with 100 beds.
From the start it was apparent it was going to be an enormous hospital with the main challenge was ensuring the building didn’t feel enormous and people could find their way around it. The layout is simple and logical, having a hierarchy of three corridor sizes – large near the entrance and small near destination points such as wards.
The treatment areas are contained within one big podium structure, but above this the building becomes much more permeable. It is conceived as three big elliptical doughnut-type structures. Externally, this helps break up the bulk of the hospital, which is important as it is in a residential area. Plus, it makes it less intimidating to new arrivals. Internally, people can get a clear view of the outside which means every ward is filled with natural light. The wards are arranged around the doughnuts with a central corridor. The brief called for 50% of rooms to be single occupancy, so each ward contains 16 single rooms that are located around the outside of the doughnut and five four-bed wards which fit neatly on the inside.
In this hospital patients and the general public will never see each other unless visiting a ward. In order to deliver patient privacy and dignity, plus help with an effective infection control regime, there is a high degree of separation. There are dedicated corridors and lifts that drop straight down into the treatment areas to keep patients separate from the corridors used by the general public.
