Major Redevelopment of Renowned Hospital

In May 2019 West London NHS Trust took formal possession of the five new hospital buildings from the construction company, Kier.

Our client, up to our employment by the Design and Build Contractor was West London Mental Health Trust. The project started at the inception stage in 2009. Oxford Architects were engaged following an OJEU notification and appointment process.

With a value of £250million the new high secure psychiatric hospital will provide wards and facilities for 234 beds and replace the aging Victorian facility. Part of the new hospital is formed by the Paddock Centre, a 70 bed ward designed by Oxford Architects, completed in 2005 at a cost of £25m.

The client had developed an outline brief for the wards only. Through extensive stakeholder design development meetings, Oxford Architects generated the brief for the Entrance Building, Central Building, perimeter security and secure external spaces. These buildings and spaces provided facilities for administration, shops, recreation, archive, canteen, visitors, group therapy, security and faith areas.

Oxford Architects were central to the development of the brief and subsequent design of these central facilities. Different departments engaged positively in the new concept of sharing space and facilities. Hand drawn sketch plans and diagrams played a central role in conveying ideas and developing stakeholder engagement. Stakeholders included clinicians, nurses, psychiatrists, psychologist, estates, security, department heads and head of service. Visits to other facilities in the UK also informed brief development. The final concept for the design was based on buildings surrounding a garden which was an innovative step for the whole team.

The packages for the central building, three ward blocks, entrance building, external landscape and perimeter security were all taken to RIBA stage E+ with a full NBS specification. Enabling works, buildings and civils were procured through P21+ with Oxford Architects being employed by the contractor to provide full design services. The works procured through this route included the Energy Centre (£4m), Training Centre (£1.5m), temporary perimeter (£7m), temporary secure wards (£2m) and a new road (£8m).

During the construction phase, we were employed by Kier to provide technical checking of the output by their specialist designers and subcontractors. The construction stage design information was developed in BIM. As well as providing Kier with a technical checking service, OA liaised with the Trust and were responsible for the discharge of planning conditions.