Queen Alexandra Hospital
Requirement
As one of the busiest metropolitan hospitals in the South of England, Queen Alexandra Hospital Portsmouth was in dire need of expansion to accommodate an enlarged patient base.
Proposals for the redevelopment of the hospital included the construction a state of the art £58m Accident and Emergency Department and a new multi-story car park.
However, the most pressing need of the hospital was additional ward space to be used primarily for patients recuperating from head injuries or strokes. This new specialist unit would also free up much needed free up general ward space within the main hospital.
The trust’s vision was for the proposed new building to link to the hospitals’ existing rehabilitation building, in turn providing a state-of-the-art brain injury rehabilitation centre to service the region.
The urgent need for the new building would require a form of modern methods of construction to be employed to meet an accelerated delivery deadline in time to offset the forthcoming winter pressures.
However, Portsmouth University NHS Trust were determined that a tight timetable should not compromise the quality, longevity, and aesthetics of the building with their ambition for the finished building to fit seamlessly within the existing surrounding architecture.
- Project Name: Queen Alexandra Hospital
- Sector: Healthcare
- Location: Portsmouth, Hampshire
- Client Name: Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust
- Supplied by: Wernick Buildings
- Size: 2997m2 / 76 Modules
- Programme: 28 weeks
- Project value: £8.2 million
- Features: Four bed wards, single bed wards, therapy rooms, offices
Solution
The Trust approached Wernick regarding a temporary decant facility but following discussion with the team they saw that a permanent design and build solution would better suit their requirements.
Working collaboratively with the Trust and their incumbent facilities management provider, Wernick’s design team developed a two-storey modular solution modelled around the HMFlex® modular healthcare system.
‘HMFlex’ is designed for wider heights, spans, and widths of our modules to incorporate a 4-bed ward within just two modules.
This enables fewer modules to be produced and ultimately installed on-site but also reduces the amount of fit out required on-site dramatically reducing both on-site preliminary costs and reducing overall programme durations.
Utilising our new system resulted in the programme being greatly reduced down from an anticipated 44 weeks to just 28 weeks which has minimised long term disruption to daily hospital operations.
The completed two-storey building comprises of 2992 m2 of clinical space with 15 four bed wards, en-suite shower rooms and 12 single bed wards with en-suite, therapy rooms, stores, offices, patient day room and kitchens on each floor.
A collaborative approach was used to develop the design of the new facility at Queen Alexandra Hospital. Externally, the new building complements the existing facilities on-site by utilising Wernick’s HMflex building system. The new facility means that Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust can effectively meet the increase in demand for additional bedspace for Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight.
