Bridgwater Community Hospital is designed to the latest standards to provide a building that will deliver 21st century healthcare.
The building replaces the previous hospital which after 200 years of service had become costly to maintain and was failing to meet many standards. The new hospital has 30 inpatient beds (18 of which are in single en-suite rooms), birthing, day treatment, imaging, outpatient and therapies departments, an endoscopy suite and minor injuries unit.
Planned around an internal courtyard and with generous areas of glazing the opportunities to bring natural light and ventilation into the building are maximised. Combined with the subtle internal colour scheme which was informed by our dementia strategy, the internal environment has a pleasant and calming atmosphere which is appreciated by patients, visitors and staff alike.
The key design principles in planning the site were to provide easy access from the existing road network, maximise views out to the surrounding countryside, minimise noise from the adjacent motorway, provide adequate car parking and allow for future expansion.
The interior design of the new Bridgwater Community Hospital provided the opportunity to create a light and welcoming community healthcare facility for staff and patients. The process of designing the new hospital began with consideration of the building layout within each individual department and the departments’ interaction with each other. Creating a new hospital provided the opportunity to create a bespoke internal design, one that was relevant to the local community and tailored to the needs of those suffering with dementia.
The layout of the building ensures that patients experience privacy and dignity in their surroundings and can move around the building without passing through any public areas. Many of the inpatient beds enjoy good views to the outside either looking to the Quantock Hills to the west or the Polden Hills to the east.
The hospital was already under construction when the client added a requirement for an endoscopy suite (for bowel screening) to serve the whole of Somerset. The hospital had been planned to allow for future change and expansion, so accommodating the suite and linking it to the hospital through Outpatients was relatively straightforward.
The one-storey 400 sqm extension provided a single endoscopy room and associated facilities including preparation suites, consent rooms, stage 1 recovery suites, stage 2 recovery lounge, endoscopy room with associated endoscope cleaning facilities, and ancillary accommodation. The layout was designed to accommodate a second endoscopy room in the future with minimal disruption to the finished department.
As part of the Integrated Health Projects team, DKA were pleased to be ‘Highly Commended’ for the Innovations in ProCure 21+ Special Award for Bridgwater Community Hospital at the Building Better Healthcare (BBH) Awards 2014.
The Hospital also won the ‘Design’ category at the Community Hospitals Association Awards 2016.
The Hospital was handed over on time, below budget and with zero defects.
