HLM Architects' Neil Orpwood, associate director –healthcare, and Mohammed Ul-Haq, associate – healthcare, discuss the government's endorsement for the greater use of offsite manufacture in the healthcare sector and share their views on how to deliver successful projects and meet targets.
The UK government has called for the greater use of offsite manufacture in the delivery of healthcare projects, requiring all new schemes to target 70% Pre-Manufactured Value. Since the government's endorsement, we have seen the emergence of more frameworks specifying offsite construction, such as the NHS Shared Business Services Modular Buildings Framework, which covers NHS Trusts and Public Sector Organisations. Recognising the scope of MMC (Modern Methods of Construction) to deliver public sector projects in a faster, greener and cheaper way, this is a hugely positive and exciting development.
However, the need for a wide range of unique spaces and the importance of minimal disturbance during construction make healthcare arguably one of the most complex sectors to design. To achieve the ambitious new targets and deliver successful offsite healthcare projects, one of the most vital steps is to establish strong relationships with MMC manufacturers.
HLM Architects has long advocated for the many benefits of the offsite approach, leading to the development of our own Think: Offsite initiative. Over the last 17+ years we have cultivated long-term relationships with multiple MMC manufacturers and have been involved in the evolution of their systems and products. We are seeing first-hand how the potential of MMC is now being pushed further than ever. Our first offsite healthcare project at Hull & York Medical School, from 2004 to 2007, used a more basic modular solution, while by 2009, we were able to reuse existing volumetric units at Hull Royal Infirmary.
More recently, our team has been exploring how we can apply MMC/offsite methodology to more specialised builds. Using the experience gained across multiple sectors, including in the education field, we have worked with a modular contractor to design and deliver a new Diagnostic Imaging Suite for the School of Health and Rehabilitation as part of our continuing work at Keele University. This extension to an existing building used prefabricated modules, which we had to ensure were lead-lined and heavily serviced to facilitate the installation and use of an x-ray machine. Being able to use modules for this type of building, with intricate and complicated needs, shows tremendous progress, as modules have previously only been utilised in environments where only minimal servicing and connectivity was required.
Innovative approaches to meeting sector challenges
There is further critical research being undertaken into the development of offsite construction in healthcare. For instance, the Construction Innovation Hub (CIH) platform is a collaborative healthcare 'sandpit' featuring over 600 companies, industry bodies, academics and more. Provided with a real-world, functioning, physical research and development project that is aligned with a virtual model, participants have a unique opportunity to experiment with the various components of the spaces, with a focus on developing an operating theatre-based cluster for minor procedures and isolation use. This can reduce the need for larger theatre use, and subsequently alleviate some of the strain on the NHS by shortening waiting lists. Operating theatres are complex, so the development of more basic spaces that are easily replicated and can accommodate smaller procedures will free up traditional theatres for major operations. The hub's objective is to create a 'kit of parts' that will allow for the assembly of these spaces within both new and existing buildings, maximising the re-utilisation potential of healthcare facilities. Think, full size Lego operating theatre delivered in a box and you'd not be far off the mark.
With the strain on the NHS front of mind, we are also developing an initiative for temporary accommodation, primarily for GP units, that will be completed in factory settings and installed onsite. These units would be adaptable to other types of healthcare requirements, again helping to alleviate waiting times. Working with a modular contractor involved in delivering the first UK Passivhaus GP Surgery in 2021, this innovative project will also allow us to take a big step towards achieving the NHS's target to reach net zero carbon by 2045. Further, this solution can provide a design blueprint to be replicated across other sectors, including education, where the base units are very similar in terms of the connectivity required.
Healthcare is rich in sub-specialisms, making standardisation more difficult. However, by harnessing the advancing technology available to us, the opportunities to design healthcare buildings in new, adaptable ways and use multiple variations of MMC and offsite manufacture are greater than ever before. As an industry, we need to educate, collaborate and think outside the box, continuing to improve our capabilities into the future to deliver efficient, sustainable buildings through innovative – and proven – methods of MMC and offsite manufacture.
Source: Insider Media Limited
