After a 60-year campaign by residents and healthcare professionals, a new neighbourhood hospital is set to open in Bristol.
Work has been now completed on the new South Bristol Community Hospital, which will provide both inpatient and outpatient services for a historically underserved area.
The £45m building was designed by AWW Architects and built by Carillion as part of a Bristol Infracare LIFT project. It provides a walk-in minor injuries unit and GP out-of-hours service, operating theatres for day surgery, inpatient beds for stroke and rehabilitation, outpatient clinics, diagnostics including endoscopy and scanning and a dental school.
It started very much as a diagrammatical interpretation of what we had found out from listening to the users and addressing this in a very literal way
All these services are being delivered in a building designed specifically to combine 24-hour and daytime services and to promote recovery and a feeling of wellbeing.
Speaking to BBH this week, architect, David Perkin, said the blueprint for the building was developed in conjunction with staff and potential users as part of a partnership approach that began at the very earliest stage of negotiations.
“A big challenge for us was that we were asked to begin developing the design at the same time as the brief was being drawn up,” he said. “This was a challenge, but it also meant that, at the beginning, there were no real constraints. This was compounded by the fact that the site was a former aerodrome, so it was a big, flat Greenfield area on which you could do almost anything.”
With so few restrictions on the site itself, and the possibility that the brief would change over time and major alterations would be needed, the team decided the best approach was a ‘diagrammatical’ one. This meant exploring exactly how each service would work individually and as a whole.
“We wanted to make sure we had an overview of the way the hospital would operate, then we would design the building around that,” Perkin said.
Operating around a landmark central, full-height glazed atrium, the original plan was to have two wings, one on either side. This public space was deemed vital as it would help to mitigate the problem encountered in many traditional hospitals where the institutionalised nature of the buildings makes wayfinding difficult. Instead, patients would be able to locate the atrium easily from anywhere in the building and orientate back towards the main entrance. In addition, the design ensured the two wings could easily expand widthways and lengthways to adapt to the brief as it changed over time.
Under this original design, one of the two two-storey wings would house the inpatient facilities, facilities management services and outpatient clinics and consulting rooms. The other would house the daytime activities such as the administration offices, the day surgery unit and the dental school.
We wanted to make sure we had an overview of the way the hospital would operate, then we would design the building around that
Perkin explained: “We looked first at which services needed to be more public-facing and we were adamant that the inpatient facilities should overlook the surrounding park. This led to the development of the initial plans. It started very much as a diagrammatical interpretation of what we had found out from listening to the users and addressing this in a very literal way.”
However, it soon became clear that this first vision would have to be reconsidered.
Perkin said: “It transpired that we could not have the full-height central atrium and configure the services as we had first imagined because it did not allow for a private route between the two wings. Clearly, if you are bringing a patient from the wards to the diagnostics area, for example, it is very important they are not on public show. Privacy and dignity was a major consideration throughout the design process.”
Determined to keep the central atrium for its wayfinding qualities, the team set about reconfiguring the two wings, ending up with a U-shaped building.
Perkin said: “We fought very hard to keep the atrium as a generous space and it is still an element of the design that creates a fantastic first impression.”
With the floor plan decided, the team turned its attention to the interior, particularly the inpatient facilities.
Perkin said: “In a rehabilitation setting there is a balance to be struck. If patients are well enough and active enough then they should be at home, so we didn’t want to make it to look too much like a hotel, but we did want to provide a home-from-home atmosphere that would promote wellbeing. We have done this using different colours and materials and making the most of natural light and ventilation and external views. In addition, the day spaces are fantastic so they tempt patients out of their bedrooms. Colourwise, we have kept things crisp and white with light grey floors and have introduced brighter colours at central points such as reception desks.”
Clearly, if you are bringing a patient from the wards to the diagnostics area, for example, it is very important they are not on public show. Privacy and dignity was a major consideration throughout the design process
Covering a total floorspace of around 11,000sq m, the hospital is located within the Hengrove Park development, which is the centrepiece of a major regeneration programme to transform south Bristol, some areas of which are among the most deprived in the country.
Perkin said: “South Bristol has been waiting for a community health centre for about 60 years, pretty much since the war. It is a very deprived area and residents have never really had access to their own local healthcare facility, instead having to troop into the city. Part of the reason behind this development was to relieve the stress on these hospitals, which were bursting at the seams.”
The new facility will also mean that outdated facilities at Bristol General Hospital can be relocated and the site disposed of.
Susan Field of Bristol Community Health, which will manage the facility on behalf of NHS Bristol, said: “As an organisation, we have been involved in the planning of the hospital over a number of years, working closely with local people. The hospital will make a real difference to the people of Bristol and the whole team at Bristol Community Health is looking forward to running modern and innovative services, including south Bristol’s first urgent care centre, working in partnership with a range of different organisations and local people.”
