London hospitals with a Wernick connection

Healthcare and education sectors continue to be the most pro-active in accepting modular construction due to the tight time and budget constraints.

Hayes Cottage Hospital in Middlesex is a name that conjures up the happier days of the health service.

It has been a hospital for local people, staffed by local people since 1875.

When the NHS decided to close the facility there was such an uproar from the community that the NHS agreed that any future development of the site would be for local healthcare purposes only.

Enter John Fordham and his family who bought the hospital and have converted it into a delightful 50-bed nursing home.

That could have been the end of the story except that there was still one redundant building on the site that was prime for re-development.

Last year John was contacted by Hammersmith Hospital's Renal Department, which is responsible for all renal dialysis in West London.

Would he be interested in building a renal dialysis unit on the site?.

If so the NHS would rent the unit and provide all the medical staff.

If he was interested they would be willing to work together to design a unit based on the latest specifications for a Renal Dialysis Satellite Unit.

After visiting two dialysis units that had been designed and built elsewhere by Wernick Buildings, John and the Hammersmith team were convinced they had met the right people to design and build their unit.

Externally, it had to comply with the requirements of the local council's conservation department.

Internally, the design had to meet the NHS's strict guidelines specified in the latest Hospital Building Notes as well as John's vision of a user-friendly open-plan design, which the patients, who have three dialysis sessions a week, would appreciate.

At the Hayes site everyone has tried to keep the cottage hospital culture, but with the very latest equipment and facilities.

Wernick's building package is comprehensive.

For their client's there is just one point of contact.

The company handles everything from feasibility studies, design and planning approvals right through to delivery and on-site finishing.

The 37 factory built modules that comprise the two-storey, 829 square metre, 24-station dialysis unit were delivered and craned into position over four days.

Fitting out took just eight weeks.

John considers the end result to be, "Brilliant; the internal finish is vitally important in this environment and Wernick have achieved a look that is aesthetically pleasing, efficient in use and easy to keep medically clean".

Modular factory assembled units guarantee a consistently high standard of finish.

This results in reduced construction time and fewer skilled craftsmen required on-site as a great deal of the work is completed at the factory.

Most of the plumbing, electrics, heating and wall finishes are factory fitted.

The benefits of this are obvious; the building site is less dependent on good weather conditions and is not affected by skill shortages that still dog the construction industry.

Modular construction is faster and cleaner on-site than traditional building techniques and causes less disruption than conventional building methods to a client's on-going business; in this case the nursing home and clinic that share the same site.

The healthcare and education sectors continue to be the most pro-active in accepting modular construction due to the tight time and budget constraints that are generally features of their build programmes.

Specialist features such as infection control finishes, piped medical gases and bespoke medical equipment required in healthcare buildings are installed on site.

School classrooms are designed to include the latest aids and equipment.

Nursery accommodation can also be fitted with all the extra security and other special facilities that are required for childcare provision for the very young.

Crucially, the government's 'Sure Start' nursery initiative has led the way in adopting modular buildings.

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