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Architects for Health 2003 AGM:
Celebrating Excellence in Healthcare Architecture

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Three healthcare projects - Mike Nightingale Associates: Introduction

• West Middlesex University Hospital, West London (£53m PFI)
• Sir Michael Sobell House Hospice, Oxford
• Meadowfield Adult Acute Unit, West Sussex Health & Social Care NHS Trust

West Middlesex University Hospital, West London (£53m PFI)

The West Middlesex Hospital sits near the banks of the Thames in a belt of parkland that stretches from Kew Gardens to the Old Deer Park. Nightingales adopted shallow plan forms and used them to great effect, helping to promote the non-institutional feel within a major new build and significant refurbishment project.

A key feature of the design-led successful bid was the provision of new patient-focused critical care and inpatient accommodation, which enabled a 1960's ward block to be utilized more appropriately for support services - a radical change from the public sector comparitor.

The design impact on added value lifecycle was significant, as well as providing a wonderful patient and staff environment. A linear atrium assists way-finding and orientation whilst providing amenity spaces and retail outlets with a café and a dedicated landscaped courtyard. The atrium and associated courtyards allow the building to be naturally ventilated with a feeling and experience of spaciousness and natural light.

The external materials have been chosen carefully to complement its form. Contrasting metal, glass, cedar cladding, terracotta and render finishes have been used to provide a welcoming, bright and optimistic feel to the building. The design is the first major NHS hospital to use natural cedar wood cladding.

Client: West Middx University Hospital NHS Trust
PFI Consortium: Bouygues UK
Architect: Nightingale Associates, London
Contractor: Bouygues UK
Cost: £53m (£35m new build; £18m refurbishment)
Floor area: 26,000m2
Completion: April 2003
Opened: June 2003
Phase 2 completion: May 2004

Sir Michael Sobell House Hospice, Oxford (£3.3m D&B)

The hospice is located on the Churchill Hospital site in Oxford, with glorious views across the adjoining golf course and countryside.

Nightingales imaginative design added value by diverting a road to increase the site area and enable retention of the original hospice building until the completion of the new facility, and therefore avoiding costly and disruptive decanting.

The wonderful curved plan of the new hospice is home to a variety of spaces, many of which are bathed in sunlight in the summer months from the top-lit corridors and roofing. Noteworthy features are the sensitive use of colours, fresh and subtle, matched carefully with the delicately patterned flooring and high quality joinery. The integration of artwork (a key feature of Nightingales work) is colourful and imaginative within sensitive settings, and the chapel retains a stained glass window from the original hospice.

Another key feature of the design is the therapeutic garden and the relationship the building has with its new landscaped spaces.

The hospice design is recognized for its sensitivity and light touch and has been awarded an "Oxfordshire Preservation Trust Award for Architecture and Design", and is also submitted for the RIBA Awards.

Client: Sobell Hospice Charity
Architect: Nightingale Associates, Oxford
Contractor: Leadbitter construction
Cost: £3.3m
Floor area: 1,500m2
Completion: August 2003
Opened: September 2003

Meadowfield Adult Acute Unit, West Sussex Health & Social Care NHS Trust

The award winning Nightingale designed Meadowfield Adult Acute Unit is situated on the edge of the South Downs near Worthing, and was originally commissioned by the then "Worthing Priority Care NHS Trust", which has since been renamed.

The excellent design was driven by three main considerations. The first was the functionality required for a 48 single bed mental health facility suitable for effective delivery of the Trusts services. The second was to exceed the Trust's aspirations in terms of the building's environment, particularly within the context of the considerations highlighted in the report "Not Just Bricks & Mortar", published by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. The third was the context and landscape within which the building would rest, an undulating topography in a semi-rural setting on the edge of the Downs.

The high quality therapeutic environment was achieved by designing unconventional layouts and circulation spaces, with shallow plan, maximum daylight, clerestory windows and roof glazing. Substantial access to glazing, views and fresh air achieve a feeling of lightness and airiness. Traditional materials used in an imaginative manner achieve a welcoming and attractive building at home in its leafy setting.

Client: Worthing Priority Care NHS Trust (West Sussex HSC NHS Trust)
Architect: Nightingale Associates, London
Contractor: Rokbuild
Cost: £5.23m
Floor area: 3732m2
Completion: July 2001