Located in the London borough of Havering, the Barking, Havering and Redbridge Acute Care Hospital (Havering Hospital) will include 859 beds. This facility will complement the local health authority’s strategy for primary care and community health services, adding a number of specialized services. These include accident and emergency care, with critical care and surgery; a large women’s and children’s hospital; and a center of excellence in cancer treatment, diagnostics, and all major tertiary services.

The design philosophy of the project combines function with aesthetic considerations. To meet its objectives, the client required a clinically driven solution that will modernize the acute care process, improve the quality of care, and allow flexibility for future growth and change.

Innovative methods to improve efficiency are planned throughout, reducing the size of clinical and support spaces, improving workflow by reducing the physical distance between caregivers and patients, and segregating traffic flow. The hospital’s components will be organized around a central wayfinding core. This user-friendly “hub and spoke” format will provide easy access to all areas of the facility with minimal travel distances.

The inpatient unit design is comprised of two semicircular, 30-bed modules placed back-to-back. This form gives nurses optimal ability to observe beds under their care from each of the three centrally located nurses’ stations, facilitating compliance with nursing ratio and bed-management policies. The inpatient unit’s circulation system rationalizes traffic flow, dividing it into three groups: visitors, inpatients/staff, and goods/services.

The hospital is designed to inspire visitors, patients, and staff and to welcome the people of the surrounding community. It will be placed in a prominent, central position on a brownfield site, with the main entrance clearly indicated at the end of a long, tree-lined boulevard. Easy access from the town center and surrounding residential areas is provided by direct lines for buses, cars, bicycles, and pedestrians.

The client—Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust—is one of the largest acute healthcare trusts in the United Kingdom. The Trust currently employs approximately 4,500 staff working across four main sites at Barking, Harold Wood, King George, and Oldchurch Hospitals. The Trust serves a population of approximately 700,000 people from a wide range of social and ethnic groups.

Project category: Project in progress (June 2006)

Chief administrator: Duane Passman, Project Director, +44 1708-708-167

Firm: Jonathan Bailey Associates, (469) 227-3900

Design team: Jonathan D. Bailey, NCARB, NDICQ, AIA, President & CEO; G. Travis Leissner, AIA, Executive Vice-President (Jonathan Bailey Associates); Tony Velupilai, Bid Director (Catalyst Healthcare Management, Ltd.); Nick Wylie, Project Director (Bovis Lend Lease); Katheryn Stephen, Clinical Planner (Adams Training Group)

Illustration: Wayne Bridgens; Margarit Valova, Artray

Total building area (GSF): 974,100

Construction cost/sq. ft.: Not released

Total cost (excluding land): Not released