Work on a new three-storey specialist training facility for those working in the healthcare sector has been completed at Nottingham Trent University’s (NTU) Clifton Campus.
The renovation of existing NTU buildings and the completion of a new building will serve as a base for the Institute of Health & Allied Professions, which offers a range of specialist courses such as adult and mental health nursing and paramedic science.
The facility is focused on equipping the healthcare providers of the future with the knowledge and hands-on skills required for the delivery of modern healthcare services.
Pick Everard provided architecture, interior design, and principal design services for the project, from concept to completion, working with main contractor, Henry Brothers, during the construction period.
Devika Parmar, director of architecture at Pick Everard, said: “We won this project via a competition under the NTU consultancy framework, where we put forward our concept proposals to create a gateway building to the campus that would be visually striking, functional, and inspirational for anyone hoping for a career within health services.
Blending our healthcare and higher education knowledge, we designed a building that caters to nursing, paramedical, and other healthcare professionals
“We’re thrilled that the completed building aligns very closely with our original concept sketch.
“Blending our healthcare and higher education knowledge, we designed a building that caters to nursing, paramedical, and other healthcare professionals.
“It accommodates a variety of clinical simulation spaces that support teaching, assessments, and learning opportunities.
“Underpinning our design approach was a modular grid and a simplicity in design to create flexibility and standardisation in space planning and construction delivery.
“Working closely with university stakeholders, we meticulously planned the building to meet user requirements and allow for new educational technologies to support the evolving learning demands.”
With flexibility in mind, multi-use spaces have the potential to provide students with fully-immersive experiences.
The new building also provides a welcoming gateway building to the campus, with the external façade treatment and quality materials providing aesthetic interest.
The pandemic has reaffirmed the need for training facilities like this to make sure that the healthcare professionals now and tomorrow have the best-quality teaching experience possible
One floor of the new development is dedicated to realistic simulated healthcare environments for the training of healthcare students. This includes hospital wards, consultations, and counselling rooms and a mock flat for home and emergency care scenarios.
Meanwhile, a further two floors provide office and flexible teaching spaces to accommodate creative learning approaches.
David Shaw, national design director at Pick Everard, said: “The architecture of the new development has been designed for maximum visual impact on arrival to the campus.
Blending healthcare and higher education design knowledge, Pick Everard has created a building that caters to the next generation of healthcare professionals
“We wanted to ensure this new addition to an evolving campus would be complimentary, but also distinctive, both externally and internally.
“The whole consultant team worked closely to deliver this project to ensure the architecture, interior design, and engineering has been holistically considered.
“We were intent on combining the existing building into the project, with the atrium space connecting the refurbished and new accommodations to bring people together in a central collaboration space.
“With such unique requirements for its end use, this development provided room for a number of innovations to be adopted. This included the inclusion of virtual reality training spaces that completely immerse students into situational experiences, which is an incredibly-valuable experience for their training.
“The pandemic has reaffirmed the need for training facilities like this to make sure that the healthcare professionals now and tomorrow have the best-quality teaching experience possible and we very much look forward to seeing the building fully occupied by students and professionals.”
And Dr Anne Felton, head of the Institute of Health & Allied Professions at NTU’s School of Social Sciences, added: “We’re incredibly excited that our new teaching centre is now open.
“The virtual reality training facilities that will provide students with fully-immersive situational experiences are a demonstration of NTU’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of the learning experience, while the audio-visual recording equipment installed within the simulation suites will enable feedback and reflection on students’ performances, creating a truly-modern learning experience.”