Inverell Hospital Redevelopment Stage 1B
Parts 1 – 9 Concept Design, Design Development, Contract Documents and Construction Services
This project involved the major refurbishment of the original hospital building which was built in the 1930’s served by a wide variety of air conditioning and heating systems or varying age and condition.
The refurbished facility will include Oral Health, Ambulatory Care, Women’s & Children and Office areas or Education and Telehealth.
Our role in this project is to develop a practical and robust solution to the ongoing provision of heating, cooling and ventilation for the changed building usage and maintain consistency with Stage 1A design.
Project Information
Location: Inverell, New South Wales, Australia
Client: Health Infrastructure
Engagement: Mechanical Services and Medical Gases
Sectors: Buildings, Hospitals & Healthcare
Services: Building Services, Commissioning Assistance, Construction and Design Consulting, Digital Engineering
Year: 2019
Additionally, we were engaged as the Watching Brief consultant for Stage 1A ($30m budget) which includes a new Clinical Services Building with Emergency Department, Paediatric and Maternity Facilities, Palliative Care, medical Imaging, Operating Theatres, Day Surgery and new main entry.
The Problem
The existing building has various systems installed throughout the life of the hospital for heating, cooling and ventilation with poor levels of compliance with current standards and guidelines.
Several challenges were identified:
1. Complex building geometry and constraints
2. Gaps between current day standards and what was existing
3. No documentation for existing systems
4. Significant redundant equipment left in place
5. Very little consistency of types of systems
Analysis and Implementation
With a brownfield site such as this, there is very little choice other than detailed survey works to properly understand what systems and equipment are in place, what is redundant, what is working and its condition, maintenance history and compliance.
We commenced our work with extensive surveys of existing equipment, recording existing systems and the areas they served. Additionally, we discussed the performance of existing systems with staff and maintenance personnel to get a picture of how the existing systems were performing.
Through our engagement on Stage 1A, we were also able to align our design decisions with the technology and approach used in the new building further simplifying the maintenance tasks for local staff. This approach offers many benefits to the LHD by enabling consistent maintenance contracts across both stages of the project.
We opted to introduce a chilled water plant, consistent in technology and controls to that of Stage 1A and to interconnect with existing hot water boilers exploiting a surplus in heating capacity. Existing medical gas recirculation were able to be repurposed for the new usage.
Outcome
Simple design solution tailored to the long-term use of the building:
- Better temperature control and heating performance in cold winter conditions
- Capitalise on surplus existing heating capacity reducing new equipment
- Consistent equipment and controls across the site, reduced maintenance costs
- Ease of maintenance
- Long term solution, 25 years to major upgrade/replacement
Take the time to study existing systems and understand the constraints of users in rural or remote areas. Consistency and simplicity is key to successful outcomes.
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