Archus on winning design team for new Women’s & Children’s Hospitals in Birmingham
The Birmingham Women’s and Children’s
NHS Foundation Trust has selected a
team including healthcare infrastructure
specialist, Archus, to deliver design and
technical consultancy services to help
modernise the estate and continue
improving the life chances of a
generation whilst raising standards for
patients and families in the region.
Archus, working in a BDP-led team also including Arup and
WT Partnership, will help develop design solutions for the
£442 million project to deliver two new family-centred
hospital buildings. These buildings will provide modern,
specialised paediatric and women’s healthcare facilities for
the city of Birmingham and surrounding region.
We are delighted to be chosen as part of the team to help improve Women’s and Children’s healthcare across the West Midlands conurbation. Building in innovative global best practice into the design, encompassing not only service transformation but ensuring its digital and green footprints work to make both hospitals class-leading.
Conor Ellis, head of health planning and strategy at Archus
Under the contract, won following competitive tender through the NHS Shared Business Services framework, the joint team of designers, engineers, planners and cost consultants will lead the redesign of Birmingham Women’s Hospital, including the introduction of a new building. They will also design and engineer a new c linical building at Birmingham Children’s Hospital on Steelhouse Lane – adjacent to Waterfall House.
The new, innovative and energy efficient Children’s Hospital will include emergency and theatre departments to replace the existing services, additional paediatric intensive care capacity and new, state-of-the-art inpatient wards. The Women’s Hospital will enable the Trust to replace its inpatient wards, expand services for specific gynaecology theatres and birthing rooms and ensure sufficient capacity within its outpatient clinics.
The design approach for both buildings will aim to meet the standards set by the Government’s ambitions to deliver a ‘net zero NHS’ by 2050. They will also enable healthcare workers to deliver world-class outcomes for paediatric and maternity services at every level across the UK.
We are proud of the amazing care our colleagues provide on a daily basis but they do that in an estate that is well beyond its operational life. Our children and young persons’ services are being delivered on a site opened in 1897 and our Women’s Hospital is more than 50 years old.
Our teams have done a great job in recent years with a make do and mend approach but the cost of that in terms of annual maintenance is growing and is not sustainable. These buildings are well past their natural life and are not suitable to providing the spaces and facilities we need for modern care. Our Big Build proposal will provide value for money and unlock huge potential for the development of our existing and new services; opening the door to a new wave of research and innovation tapping into the many world class individuals we are lucky to call colleagues.
David Melbourne, the Acting Chief Executive of Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
