Velindre Cancer Centre is a vital service provider in Wales, offering treatment and support to over 1.5 million people in South East Wales and beyond. The Centre is also incredibly busy, with over 50,000 new outpatients being referred every single year.
“The centre had offices spread throughout the building, some in locations that would be better suited to patient care,” explained Mike Ellery, Capital Development & Operations Manager. “We wanted a new office block to consolidate our administration staff in one location, in turn allowing us to expand our patient care areas.”
The hospital chose to use modular construction for the new office block because of the time of year construction would take place. “We wanted the building in place early in the year,” commented Mike. “We knew that traditional construction would be more at risk of delays through the winter, whereas a modular building gave us a better guarantee on deliverables.” Aware of Wernick Buildings’ reputation as a provider of high quality modular buildings, the hospital contacted them.
The building was manufactured in just 6 weeks in Wernick Buildings’ factory, only 25 miles down the road. While the building process was swift and easy, the installation proved a little more challenging.
Contracts Manager Ben Hitchcock told us; “The proposed site was located between protected buildings and a protected tree. The lift also required a 250 tonne crane which presented a challenge in itself; it took us an hour just to get it on site.”
Once the 27 units were installed, however, some of the local residents were initially unhappy with the appearance of the building.
“When a building is going to be overclad, we construct the external walls of the units using colourcoated steel that may otherwise go to waste, regardless of colour. This can lead to some strange looking buildings, and I had to speak to a number of concerned locals when they saw the multi-coloured units being installed. I was happy to put their fears to rest.”
Once the units were installed, it wasn’t long before the external finish of white render with cedar cladding features, was complete. The building also features external lighting and security systems, vital for the out of hours working often conducted in the building. Internally the building features conference rooms, open plan office space, disabled access lift, toilet facilities and an ADT alarm system.
Mike Ellery, Capital Development & Operations Manager, seemed pleased with the finished product. He commented; “Staff are very happy with the new building, it’s spacious, open and bright. The on-site team were also excellent at communicating with us and local residents to ensure the finished building was to everyone’s satisfaction.”