Last week colleagues came together with local partners, stakeholders and our CRH clinical building construction partner Laing O'Rourke to look at the next phase of our reconfiguration journey.
As part of the event, a virtual reality immersive experience van saw colleagues glimpse into our new building and its areas and departments.
Project Manager, Helen Marshall, said: “Using a virtual reality headset, we were able to “walk around” our new space to get a feel for it. As we take the designs to the next stage, this will give us the chance to look into the detail, for example if rooms have enough plug sockets, if they will be able to accommodate certain bits of equipment, or which patient areas will be visible from the nurses’ station.
"All of these details are hard to gather from a drawing or model. Eventually, Laing O'Rourke will be able to incorporate moveable beds and equipment to demonstrate how they will move through the new building. It was really exciting seeing the plans come together visually.”
What's happening at CHFT this month?
September will be a busy month at CRH as we start to see some progress on the new multi-storey car park, investigations in the car parks off Godfrey Road, and work continuing on the new Learning and Development Centre.
New clinical building
Surveying is underway to inform the technical planning and design. There will be some intermittent loud drilling as ground investigations are undertaken over the next few weeks. We will need to close some patient/visitor parking bays on a rolling basis across the A&E and Women’s and Children’s car parks, but parking will be restored after each investigation is completed.
Multi-storey car park
The enabling works for our multi-storey car park are also underway in the front car park. In the first few weeks, this will include rerouting drainage systems and general work in relation to lighting, CCTV and electrical works.
The main turning circle at the front of the hospital will close completely to traffic for a few days – the dates are to be confirmed and we'll share with colleagues and the public when we have them. Pedestrian access will be maintained, but for safety reasons, please follow the signs and use the footpath by The Dales and do not cut across the front of the construction site. More information will be shared once dates for this work are confirmed.
Our new Learning and Development Centre at CRH
We are getting ever closer to completion. The final work on the building is underway, to be followed shortly after by the external landscaping next month. The project team is busy planning for the move into the new facility, which will provide a fantastic new environment for our teams.
Colleagues have asked what will happen with the current learning centre prior to its demolition later next year to make way for the clinical building. We will be using the space to accommodate our construction partner Laing O’Rourke. It will provide much needed space for the design teams - including technical engineers and specialists – to be on-site with our colleagues, and it will also house an immersive suite, similar to the one used at the event last week, that will help us to showcase what the new building will look and feel like.
