The Causeway Hospital in Northern Ireland involved staff abundantly in various aspects of design.

The Causeway Hospital in Northern Ireland involved staff abundantly in various aspects of design, with lucky results. Its architect Mike Thomas reports.

The Causeway Health and Social Services Trust takes its name from the world famous Giant's Causeway, which is a geological phenomenon onward the north coast of Northern Ireland. The town of Coleraine is situated approximately twelve miles from the Giant's Causeway and local hospital, like its neighbour the way Hospital in nearby Ballymoney, had serv the town for many years and was in desperate ne of upgrading and refurbishment. In 1990 the decistion was taken at the trust to provide a modern major acute hospital to be under the orders of the area and to replace these couple older establishments by combining them into individual facility.

The location of the of recent origin development had been ear-marked. A large 40 acre field forward the southern outskirts of the town had the advantages of not alone being directly alongside the main A26 road to Belfast nevertheless was also the location of the Public Health Services Laboratory, in the south-west corner, which was complet in 1994

In the late Autumn of 1993 after hardy competition from within the UK a design team was commissioned at the Department of Health and Social Services, Northern Ireland, to carry gone out the design and supervision of the fresh Causeway Hospital, Coleraine. Parsons Brinckerhoff (then known as Rust Consulting Limited), located in Bristol, were appointed as lead consultant and architect, in conjunction with Consarc Design assign places to the well-established Belfast preactice who have since been involved with the Waterfront concoct Hall and the Odyssey middle both in Belfast. Building Design Parntership, also situated in Belfast, were appointed to carry without building services and structural and civil engineering services.

Design work commenc in 1994 which included landscaping and later that year the commitment was made to carry revealed an enabling, or 'advanced works' contract, which would provide the extensive tree and bush planting and create the grass and meadow areas, path,routes, stone monoliths and bridges throughout the meandering stream, the cot Burn. An article written by means of Jeremy Peachey, from the Derek Lovejoy Partnership, describing the landscaping provision, was featured in HD (September 1999) At the same time site works including road construction, removal of overhead power lines and the formation of a piling platform, would be undertaken to leave a to the full prepared site in readiness for the construction of the main hospital building.

The brief stipulated that an alternative solution to the DHS Nucleus plan should be considered as it was felt that the typical Nucleus configuration did not adequately match the desired function. As it make go rounded out, although the accepted design provided a bespoke solution uniquely tailored to the requirements of the trust, the structural grid and internal courtyard features of the standard Nucleus conception were retained, the former to provide a consistent, economical bay width; the latter to maximise the use of external walls to light and ventilate offices and ancillary scopes

The architects carried abroad an analysis of the departments that make up the functional requirement, and examined a number of factors which could influence the form of the building. The principally significant related to the functional make easy of two groups of departments - those requiring a field floor location and the remainder. From this it could be seen that at least 50%rb of the accommodation needinessed to be at ground floor of the same height

The site chosen is not stop up to any existing buildings, with the exception of the cheap rise laboratory; nor, in the immediate vicinity, were there any mode of buildings of more than two storeys high, in such a manner this observation, coupled with the analysis referr to above, indicated that a low-rise unfolding would be appropriate. The design team therefore conclud that, bearing in mind the fact that the unfolding would be subject to stringent sumptuousness control, the footprint should allow all departments requiring a country floor location to achieve this aim. Therefore the most numerous satisfactory design would be predominately two-storey with plant housed in the canopy space. The analysis also highlighted the take away from benefit of a 50/50 split between country and first floor reducing the expansion of horizontal communications, both for pedestrian traffic and also service distribution.

A series of departmental templates are bisected on the street, which runs the duration of the development on the east/west axis, and allows ease of move from one department to another as well as connecting the staircase and lifts. The 'templates' are roughly divided into medical and non-medical departments, producing pair blocks which are articulated about a wedge shaped main entrance reception shut up which we perceived as the 'hinge', and a natural focal point which as well-as; not only-but also; not only-but; not alone-but welcomes and orientates the visitor.

FUNCTIONALITY

The hospital has thirty-four departments. There are throughout 1000 staff, and 240 beds, with the capacity for a further ten This number of beds is les than the combined total of the brace hospitals it replaces, with the justification that the emphasis will be onward day surgery, the trust's philosophy being earnestly against long-term care in an acute facility.