IHEEM WALES Event 21st June 2011

A Tour of the New YsbytyYstradFawrHospital on the 21stJune 2011

Simon Davies, Associate Capital Project of Aneurin Bevan Health Board and Gareth Williams, BAM gave a presentation of the engineering and design features of the largest new hospital in Wales currently under construction to Members of IHEEM Wales, SOE South Wales Regional Group, IMI Wales and their guests prior to its planned completion in late September 2011. This was followed by a excellent tour of the engineering services and main design features of the new hospital complex, the enclosed picture shows you an aerial view the design and layoutof the new hospital.

The new hospital is at the heart of plans being developed by Aneurin Bevan Health Board, Caerphilly Teaching Local Health Board (TLHB) and Caerphilly County Borough Council (CCBC) to improve health and social care for the local population, and to deliver the aims and objectives of the Assembly’s agenda set out in “Designed for Life: Creating world class health services for Wales”. It will enable the rationalisation and modernisation of hospital services within the Borough and will act as a hub for the delivery of a network of local services.

Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr will be a 269 bed Local GeneralHospital with a floor area of 30,146m2 arranged over four levels. The vision for the new hospital is centred on the creation of a 'healing environment'. The vision will span the whole service provision, and will be expressed physically in the quality of the built environment. The main hospital concourse is located one floor above ground level, and this provides a unique opportunity namely to locate car parking under the main building thereby avoiding the traditional model of a hospital set within a landscape of car parking. Central to the development of the new hospital is the inclusion of 100% single en-suite bedrooms which will help to ensure the provision of high quality care, aid the reduction of hospital acquired infection rates and address the privacy and dignity need of patients.

The strategic aims that have underpinned the work of the project are:

  • To improve health and well being;
  • To reduce inequalities in health that exist within the local population;
  • To help people maintain independence and take more responsibility for their own health.
  • Improve access to services both in terms of time and location;
  • Ensure that services meet acceptable standards of safety and quality, delivering the best possible outcomes for patients;

The hospital has been procured under the Welsh Assembly Government’s Designed for life framework and has been delivered by the Bam supply chain with engineering design provided by Arup, architectural design provided by Nightingale Associates and MEP installation has been carried out by Lorne Stewart.

Key features of the project are: -

  • 100% single bedrooms
  • Sprinkler protection throughout
  • Designed to meet and exceed Part L 2006 carbon emission strategies
  • Designed to achieve NEAT “Excellent” rating
  • Windows designed to achieve balance between thermal performance and daylighting within rooms while improving natural ventilation performance
  • Biomass boiler
  • Hospital is built on a flood plain so significant flood modelling work was required in order to identify a solution that prevents the hospital from being flooded without impacting the flood risk to surrounding properties
  • MRI and CT scanners located on 1st floor required detailed vibration analysis during early design stages while final scanner selection was not completed