On Thursday 26th May, IHEEM West Midlands Branch and local contractors, Tilbury Douglas held a progress talk and tour of Walsall Manor Urgent & Emergency Care Centre.
At £40m, the development is one of the most significant new build healthcare projects currently on site in the West Midlands. With works due to complete this Autumn, the Midlands team at Tilbury Douglas thought that now would be a good opportunity to share best practice and give industry professionals an opportunity to see the workings of the building before the finishing phase begins.
The event kicked off at 2.30pm in Tilbury Douglas’s site offices, where after some networking and coffee, the team got underway with a short presentation to introduce the project.
Richard Myatt, Contracts Manager for the project talked the audience through the key aspects of the build, the nature of the site and the solutions to some of the challenges that the brief presented.
Next up, Rebecca Phillips, a Senior Design Manager on the project explained the careful planning and consultation that has taken place, both in the preconstruction period and throughout the development of the project to ensure that patient pathways and clinical needs were the top priority in the development of the design.
Lee Mason, Project Engineer from Tilbury Douglas Engineering covered the MEP strategy for the project, including how MMC has been utilised to improve quality, reduce carbon and risk to programme.
Wrapping up the overview, Jess Taylor, Business Development Manager explained the projects Social Value Strategy, which has been based on Local workforce, local supply chain, opportunities for training and development, alongside charity fund raising and Mental Health Initiates.
After the talk, everybody put on their PPE and we walked over to the site of the development, which was standing proud in the sunshine. The tonal blue panelled cladding had recently been applied the previous week, which made for a pleasant contrast with the light coloured brickwork.
Entering the ground floor, you could already get a sense for what visitors to the new Emergence Department will be greeted with, a generous reception and waiting area, where walk in patients will be checked-in.
Majors, Paediatrics, Imaging, RAT and Recus make up the key clinical zones on the ground floors. Travelling up to the First floor, where the AMU (Acute Medical Unit) is situated, spaces are beginning to feel much more tangible and nearing completion.
With Tablets and Smartphones, the visitors were able to view 3D visualisations of how the spaces will look when finished, technology which has proved very useful when speaking to the clinical team based at the hospital, who have been able to influence the design as it developed.
The group followed the Tilbury Douglas team up to the roof, where the engineers explained the technical aspects of the systems and equipment to the visitors.
It was great to have so many in attendance from both NHS Trusts and suppliers, we look forward to hosting another event upon completion so that people can follow the progress of this project.
For any further questions or enquiries please contact Jessica Taylor.
Jessica.taylor@tilburydouglas.co.uk
