Project progress: April 2024
As we move into the last few months of construction, we beginning to see more of a shift towards what the finished hospital will look like, which is exciting, and those visiting the Western Community Hospital will see the impressive finished exterior as they enter the site.
Throughout April, we’ve been working with a busy site of around 80 operatives working each day. The glazing in the terrace area is now in place which finishes all the window installation, work is continuing on the first fix mechanical and engineering to install all the necessary cables and wiring around the building, and there has been work to finalise the ductwork and the control of the air handling units which are on the roof.
The second floor of the building is slightly ahead of the first floor below it, and as plastering continues on the that first floor, on the second floor ward there is vinyl flooring in place in the bathrooms and wet areas and the decorator has begun painting. The first phase of the painting process is to put a mist cost on the walls, which is a thin layer of paint that helps to show us any imperfections in the plastering that can be fixed before painting continues. That has been done throughout the second floor and some areas now have a first coat of paint, with some of the coloured feature walls in place around the ward, too.
The lift cars are being built and installed to ensure there is good access for visitors in the future and there has been work in the courtyard to finish the brickwork and install the planters.
Outside of the building there has been some important activity taking place, too. A big part of the project has been to secure the power source and we have begun works to lay a new cable for the power supply to the new hospital building, in liaison with energy supplier SSE, which has seen a trench across the road alongside the Adelaide Health Centre and some excavation of the ground behind the Western.
We have continued to welcome visitors for tours and we were pleased to have a visit from colleagues at Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust and the Care Quality Commission in April, as well as some Solent teams.
We operate site tours on Friday afternoons, which can be booked through Sam Vincent sam.vincent@solent.nhs.uk. They start at 12.45pm where we join a short safety briefing with Brymor colleagues before taking a full tour of the rehabilitation building, and all PPE is provided. To see what you can expect on a tour, you can watch our video here.