New Hospital in the Garden City
Architects Penoyre & Prasad have recently completed a new 8541m2 local NHS hospital in Welwyn Garden City. As part of a wider reconfiguration of hospital services in East and North Hertfordshire the new QEII is one of the first of a new generation of hospitals commissioned to provide key healthcare community services. It replaces the existing district general hospital built in the 1950’s, which itself was one of the first purpose built NHS hospitals in the UK.
Six decades later, as part of NHS reforms such as the Five Year Forward View, this new type of hospital bridges the gap between primary care and acute or specialist hospitals. The New QEII Hospital efficiently provides a range of integrated care functions closer to home, to the benefit of patients, service providers and the health economy. The New QEII Hospital is designed around a landscaped courtyard and clad in timber, hand glazed tiles and render. The light and airy building responds sympathetically to its leafy Garden City context. Penoyre & Prasad specified natural materials whenever possible The New QEII Hospital provides outstanding medical and patient facilities for the local area, who are welcomed in the reception area by a bold and colourful mural by celebrated artist David Tremlett.
The Urgent Care Centre at the New QEII Hospital operates 24/7 but there are no in-patient beds for overnight stays as the hospital concentrates on day-care and outpatients treatments. To support specialist acute regional hospitals, such as the Lister in Stevenage, the New QEII Hospital provides a wide and comprehensive range of clinical services including diagnostics, treatment and therapies, closer to the community it serves.
The scale and layout of the building is not large or complex, the layout and organisation of departments is clear and understandable, allowing the hospital to be easily navigated externally and internally, a key feature in improving the patient experience.
Full content of this issue you can read here
The full version of the article can be read in our printed issue, also you can subscribe to the web-version of the magazine
Materials provided by Penoyre & Prasad