Evelina Children’s Hospital, South Bank, London. A seven-storey, new-build children’s hospital, part of Guys and St Thomas’ Hospital.

WHERE: Lambeth Palace Road, SE1.

HOW MUCH: £60m overall, including £41.8m construction cost and £1m post-contract completion works.

WHEN: Demolition began in March 2002, construction took 36 months and the project completed in March 2005, 10 months late.

CONTRACT: Two-stage design and build

SIZE/SHAPE: 14,500 m², seven storeys and 140 beds.

HOW: The theme of the building is open space, fresh air and “no long, scary corridors”. A 100m high conservatory on the upper four storeys is dubbed the Beach. Overlooked by all the wards, it contains a play area, restaurant and school. The Beach and south-facing roof are glazed so children can see out from their beds. Outpatient areas are on the lower three floors.

WHO: architect: Hopkins Architects, contractor: MJ Gleeson, structural engineer: Buro Happold, QS and employers agent: Davis Langdon, Healthcare strategist: Rawlinson Kelly Whittlestone, services consultants: Hoare Lea and Partners, client: Guy’s and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust

QS VIEW: “It was a challenge in that it was quite an innovative design and the Trust had exacting aspirations in terms of quality.

We asked contractor Gleeson to look at design solutions, alternative materials and buildability. The result is a building made of standard materials but innovatively used. It has a glazed curtain walling, terracotta cladding and a glazed steel atrium” - Paul Coomber, Davis Langdon

AWARDS: The project has been shortlisted for the Stirling prize award.

Source

QS News