Ward Conversion – Trafford General Hospital

As part of a competitive tender process, we were awarded a project to convert two existing wards into high specification open plan office space which included a reception area, new kitchen, new board room, workstations, meeting rooms, and break-out areas.

The Trusts aim for this project was to relocate several administrative departments, consolidate them in a single space to improve efficiency and provide a collaborative working environment for the finance and procurement departments.

Scope of works:

• Full strip-out and internal demolition works
• Installation of structural steel supports
• Installation of partition walls, glazed walls and ceilings
• Refurbishment to windows and installation of new doors
• High specification kitchen with seating area
• High specification board room with video conferencing facilities
• New WC facilities
• Upgrade to fire compartments and fire stopping works
• Installation of acoustic screens and baffles
• New M&E installation including lighting, data points, AV installation, fire alarms, new distribution boards and associated wiring
• New Air Handling Units on the roof
• New FF&E including seating, desks and board room table
• Decoration throughout with manifestations applied to glazed walls
• New flooring throughout

Our approach:

The wards to be converted were situated on the second floor in block 51 of Trafford General Hospital. The ground floor of block 51 housed physiotherapy and the children’s department, which was a live hospital environment and remained operational throughout the works. Communication was a key element to ensuring the hospital remained operational, we held weekly discussion with key stakeholders to plan our activities around the hospital’s priorities.

Our works were fully segregated from the live hospital environment by erecting fire rated hoarding and using an enclosed scaffolding and hoist to allow materials/waste to be transported to/from the second floor. We planned our logistics to reduce our day-to-day interface between our construction activities, hospital staff, patients and visitors by utilised a rear staircase for our operatives to access the site, which was protected during the works, and enclosing our welfare facilities within the site boundary.

We used dust suppression and control measures to maintain infection control levels at the hospital. Our control measures included erecting fire rated temporary hoarding, water spray dust suppression, dust suppression air cubes, tack mats at access/egress points, a regular cleaning regime and keeping all windows closed during the works to prevent dust escaping.

To control the noise levels, our demolition works were undertaken outside of busy hospital hours and our shift patterns started at 5 am and finished at 8 pm.

To sustain the fire safety in the building during the works, we maintained all fire escape routes, installed temporary fire doors and erected fire-rated temporary hoarding at our site entrance with fire extinguishers in place.

As we worked through the building, we performed sectional handovers with the Trust and the design team to sign-off the high-quality finishes that were achieved. We set up an early engagement process for testing and commissioning to ensure that all system was in full working order for the sectional handovers and that all relevant stakeholders were fully involved. We established a training plan to ensure that all stakeholders were trained on new systems installed and to aid familiarisation with the new office space.

Throughout the project, we held weekly meetings where we prioritised the hospital’s needs and co-ordinated with the hospital’s estates team to plan and schedule our deliveries, erection of scaffolding and crane lift for the installation of Air Handling Units on the roof.

Our delivery team have been working at Trafford General Hospital for more than six years and have built a good working relationship with Trust directors, estates management team, hospital staff and other stakeholders by engaging in regular communication and prioritising the hospital’s needs.