The first stage of work to construct a new £6m integrated health facility in Lowestoft, Suffolk, is almost complete.
Finishing touches are being made to the interior of the building and externally to complete the car parking layout and landscaping.
The project to create a major new integrated health facility at Kirkley Rise is one of the first in the country to be built by NHS Property Services. The property company, established last April, owns the former Kirkley Rise factory site in the centre of Lowestoft and has delivered the new facility for HealthEast, the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) for Great Yarmouth and Waveney.
The building is on track for the first stage of occupation in May 2014. The second stage of occupation is planned for early autumn when, in conjunction with NHS England, local GP surgeries will transfer into the new building, giving patients access to high-quality health services in a modern, safe, state-of-the-art facility.
NHS Property Services' East Anglia team has led the first phase of the Kirkley Health Campus development and has taken early possession of the building from construction contractor, Keir. Its team, in conjunction with the CCG and East Coast Community Care, who will be providing clinical services from the facility from May, are now overseeing the final works to ensure the building is ready for services to move in on time.
Sean Perry, strategic projects manager for NHS Property Services East Anglia, said: “This fantastic new NHS health facility is one of the first in the country to be delivered by NHS Property Services and is a great addition to our portfolio. It will serve the local public sector integration agenda well, especially given the inclusion of social services and the plans for the next phases on the campus.
“The building’s innovative design and use of the latest construction techniques and materials, speed, sustainability, and recycling have been dominant features of the build process. It has a striking external design, so the building will not only become known for delivering a range of high-quality services, but will also become a landmark in Kirkley and the town.”
The building’s front elevation incorporates a mill motif on its main facade, which is continued in the internal design. This concept celebrates the existence of a windmill on the site during the 19th Century, the foundations of which were found during preparatory excavations. The mill itself is depicted in an 1833 painting by Norwich School artist, James Stark.
The challenge presented late in in 2012 was to fast-track the first phase of the permanent Kirkley Mill Health Centre construction, having already relocated a temporary health centre onto part of the site ready for use in February 2013. In collaboration with the Kier and architects, Frank Shaw Associates, it was decided to opt for off-site prefabrication of the building frame using Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) technology. This offered speed of construction, uninterrupted internal spaces and added building life, as well as internal flexibility of use in a readily-adaptable built environment where future modification could be achieved with minimal disturbance.
The building incorporates a number of sustainability features in order to reduce its impact upon the environment. Daylight sensors have been installed in open-plan areas to reduce the need for artificial lighting, when required light levels can be met by natural daylight. Photocells and presence detectors provide energy savings by switching off lights automatically when no one is present. Infrared taps have been installed in all consulting rooms which operate at controlled temperatures and reduce water consumption as they are timed to shut off if no one is using them.
The project has been spearheaded by local NHS commissioners, HealthEast, which will commission services from the building. When fully operational the health centre will provide the local community with a range of services including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, podiatry and speech and language therapy on the same site as the GP practices.
Suffolk County Council's social services will also have a presence in the building, marking the start of a more-integrated approach to health and social care provision in the town and the bringing together of a range of different services in the same building to offer local people a more joined-up service.
In addition, a community pharmacy is being constructed on adjacent land to the new facility by a private developer and is due to open in September, offering patients another healthcare service on the campus.