We started this project in 2002 having put together a Consortium to deliver a full design team for healthcare work in Northern Ireland. This original scheme drew on our experience of healthcare design and in particular Renal Dialysis units and the architectural philosophy at the time.
Following an estate review in 2003 the Trust produced a strategic plan for the site that involved significant redevelopment of the majority of buildings. The renal unit site was relocated to tie in with the master plan and a new design philosophy imposed on the scheme by strategic master plan.
The new scheme provided a new 40 station renal dialysis facility, linked to the main hospital in a mix of single and multi-storey accommodation. The central 3-storey core housed the entrance and principal waiting area, with staff facilities below and plant space above. Off this core was a 2-storey block housing administration accommodation, support facilities and water treatment spaces. The single storey curved element radiating off the central core provided the dialysis stations in a mix of 5 bed bays and single rooms.
The construction was undertaken by one main Contractor under Northern Ireland's Health Estates “Performance Related Partnering” Framework; a partnering contract that delivered the project on time and on budget, despite a Client instruction to increase the number of stations by 33% when construction work had already started on site.
Project Principals and Objectives:
The principal objective of this project was to provide a purpose build renal unit to replace the temporary facility on the hospital site that was originally designed to accommodate only 8 dialysis stations.
The new Renal Unit will serve the community of North Down, Mid Down and East Belfast with an estimated population of some 260,000 people. Patients will receive dialysis treatment three times per week and hopefully it will contribute to improving their quality of life.
The second principal of the final scheme was to demonstrate the Trust's intent for the future, long term redevelopment of the Ulster Hospital site. The design therefore had to be striking and with a high quality of material, detail and finish.
In particular, for this facility, where people have to spend long periods of time on a regular basis, the treatment and patient areas needed to be light, spacious and linked to the outside world, making the most of the prominent site and southerly views.
