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London hospitals with a Wernick connection | 17 May 2007 |
Hayes Cottage Hospital in Middlesex is a name that conjures up the happier days of the health service. It has been a hospital for local people, staffed by local people since 1875. When the NHS decided to close the facility there was such an uproar from the community that the NHS agreed that any future development of the site would be for local healthcare purposes only.
Enter John Fordham and his family who bought the hospital and have converted it into a delightful 50-bed nursing home. That could have been the end of the story except that there was still one redundant building on the site that was prime for re-development. Last year John was contacted by Hammersmith Hospital's Renal Department, which is responsible for all renal dialysis in West London. Would he be interested in building a renal dialysis unit on the site? If so the NHS would rent the unit and provide all the medical staff. If he was interested they would be willing to work together to design a unit based on the latest specifications for a Renal Dialysis Satellite Unit.
After visiting two dialysis units that had been designed and built elsewhere by Wernick Buildings, John and the Hammersmith team were convinced they had met the right people to design and build their unit. Externally, it had to comply with the requirements of the local council's conservation department. Internally, the design had to meet the NHS's strict guidelines specified in the latest Hospital Building Notes as well as John's vision of a user-friendly open-plan design, which the patients, who have three dialysis sessions a week, would appreciate. At the Hayes site everyone has tried to keep the cottage hospital culture, but with the very latest equipment and facilities.
Wernick's building package is comprehensive. For their client's there is just one point of contact. The company handles everything from feasibility studies, design and planning approvals right through to delivery and on-site finishing. The 37 factory built modules that comprise the two-storey, 829 square metre, 24-station dialysis unit were delivered and craned into position over four days. Fitting out took just eight weeks. John considers the end result to be, "Brilliant; the internal finish is vitally important in this environment and Wernick have achieved a look that is aesthetically pleasing, efficient in use and easy to keep medically clean".
Modular factory assembled units guarantee a consistently high standard of finish. This results in reduced construction time and fewer skilled craftsmen required on-site as a great deal of the work is completed at the factory. Most of the plumbing, electrics, heating and wall finishes are factory fitted. The benefits of this are obvious; the building site is less dependent on good weather conditions and is not affected by skill shortages that still dog the construction industry. Modular construction is faster and cleaner on-site than traditional building techniques and causes less disruption than conventional building methods to a client's on-going business; in this case the nursing home and clinic that share the same site.
The healthcare and education sectors continue to be the most pro-active in accepting modular construction due to the tight time and budget constraints that are generally features of their build programmes. Specialist features such as infection control finishes, piped medical gases and bespoke medical equipment required in healthcare buildings are installed on site. School classrooms are designed to include the latest aids and equipment. Nursery accommodation can also be fitted with all the extra security and other special facilities that are required for childcare provision for the very young. Crucially, the government's 'Sure Start' nursery initiative has led the way in adopting modular buildings.
Hayes Cottage Renal Dialysis Unit. With its brick skin and pitched tiled roof would you ever guess that it was factory built?
Other news from Wernick Buildings (17 May 2004 - 16 Apr 2008):
How’s that! (10 Mar 2008)
Top school gives top marks to Wernick (4 Mar 2008)
New Wernick sales office gets a Sure Start (10 Dec 2007)
Oxfordshire Guides get smart new HQ (7 Nov 2007)
A delight to teach and work in (20 Aug 2007)
Latest Modular Building News (1 May 2007)
Students' Union gets fast track building solution (22 Mar 2007)
Andy King is joining the management team of Wernick Buildings Ltd (11 Mar 2007)
Sparkies go for special features (6 Mar 2007)
Building from a child's perspective (28 Feb 2007)
Small is beautiful in Cornwall (20 Feb 2007)
Ticket sales climb at castle (25 Jan 2007)
Cardiff makes a real good read (13 Oct 2006)
New medical centre streamlines patients (11 Sep 2006)
A record of a job! (6 Sep 2006)
So what exactly is modular? (17 Jul 2006)
New director for Wernick (25 Apr 2006)
NHS provides answer to impossible deadlines (18 Apr 2006)
Would you ever guess this was modular? (11 Apr 2006)
Fast-track healthcare accommodation (21 Mar 2006)
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