"The New Operating Theatre provides the hospital with a new facility to service the community. With and state of the art equipment and design standards”
Client Name: Central Gippsland Health Service - Sale
Area: 250m²
Builder: CAD Build – (Formerly CM & HM Banks)
As part of ongoing capital works at the hospital is the provision of a new operating theatre and associated support areas. The facility is located on the roof space of the existing building designed in 1972 by the Architect – the late Stuart Ashton who was responsible for many of the buildings in Gippsland since the 1950’s. The design‘s intention is to complement the existing building forms and uses the language of the long slot windows and metal façade and reinterprets them. A custom made folded metal façade sites atop the existing brickwork, broken by the negative space of the slot windows. The façade changes appearance during the day with the varying shadows and light.
Bairnsdale Regional Health – MRI Suite
“BRHS engaged Slap architects to refurbish the Medical Imaging department. This included the design of a suite for the installation of a new MRI machine”
Client Name: BRHS – Bairnsdale Regional Health Service
Area: 115m² Plus Mechanical Plant area
Builder: CADbuild Construction (Formerly CM & HM Banks Builders)
Due to time constraints the MRI suite design and construction was separated and carried out as in individual project. The MRI machine was supplied by the manufacturer General Electric. We liaised with GE throughout the project to meet their specific technical needs. An MRI machine is in essence a giant superconducting magnet which requires liquid helium to cool it.
The project while small in area was quite a challenge for us as it required the coordination of specialist consultants. These included RF cage installation contractors, Quench Pipe installers, Magnet suppliers and their technical requirements being coordinated with each other and the services engineers.
The suite itself had specific design requirements such as a Faraday cage which acts as a radio frequency shield to isolate the scanner from any outside interference as well as stopping the scanner from interfering with external equipment – such as the monitoring equipment. In addition due to the machine being a magnet the interior of the suite inside the cage is not allowed to have any ferrous metal objects including any nails, screws etc. The strange looking “snorkel” on the top of the building is a “quench pipe” that evacuates the liquid helium from the machine in case of emergency.
The MRI machine itself is shipped to the hospital “live” and is put on “life support” at the hospital – moved through a special opening in the external wall. When the head contractor & RF cage installer closed the wall up and completed the cage the MRI operators then completed their installation and commissioning of the MRI before it was ready for service.
The MRI provides a highly required service to the region, prior to this installation; a mobile MRI was used and shared with other hospitals or patients had to travel considerable distances to access the service.
Bairnsdale Regional Hospital – Dialysis and Oncology
“Bairnsdale Regional Hospital required a new building to house the dialysis and oncology department. The design was an intentional break from the clinical appearance of the traditional health care building and sought to provide a warmer more intimate environment”
Project Name:
Bairnsdale Regional Hospital – Dialysis and Oncology building
Area:
775m²
Construction Budget:
$2.7 Million
Builder:
Brooker Builders
A continuous connection to the outside environment was the impetus for the design of this facility where patients and families must often endure long and frequent treatments. Client spaces can be both private and communal, giving the opportunity for clients to socialise. This is especially important when they are being treated for long periods of time during dialysis. The zones between dialysis and oncology are deliberately blurred to allow for flexibility in delivering treatment, depending on client demand.
The building is a triangular form in response to the restrictions of the site. Full glazing to the north and a central highlight well allow natural to light penetrate into the core of the building. Distances between zones are minimised, and a centrally located nurses station allow for easy monitoring of patients.
The building sits lightly on the site with a play between modern contemporary forms and earthy colours and textures retaining the essence of its rural location. Corrugated cladding and the warming tones of vertical timber lining combine with lineal slot windows and a composite aluminium feature blade surround. Anodised aluminium louvres provide a visual link to the new accident and emergency building.
The design has been commended by a leading renal specialist as a state of the art dialysis centre.