Milsom Street General Clinic
- Client
- Gloucestershire Care Services
- Location
- Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
- Project Leaders
- Robert Walder
Challenge
Our brief was to convert a vacant Victorian building in Cheltenham into a modern health centre with state-of-the-art facilities that provided a contraception and sexual health clinic offering NHS walk-in advice.
- Services
- Partners
-
O’Brien & PriceEIS MidlandsMIH Ltd
Gallery
Solution
There were a number of key challenges with this project but the two at the forefront were; how to design the building for a service that required a sensitive approach to care, and appropriately convert a Victorian building to make it fit for purpose within a clinical environment. Both required a delicate and discrete design, which was steered by the consultation work with Gloucestershire Care Services and other key stakeholders.
Firstly, although the existing building wasn’t listed, it certainly encompassed qualities of age, style and materials which are locally distinct in the Cheltenham Conservation Area, and was therefore classed as a key unlisted building. This meant that any new external features or alterations to existing features, were designed to fit seamlessly with, and be subservient to, the existing building. Our Conservation Architect worked closely with the Conservation Officer to develop a scheme that really blended and complemented the existing building and locality.
Secondly, for the internal design, our aim was to create a space that put visitors at ease as soon as they walked into the centre and counter the embarrassment patients may feel when they need to visit these services.
To do this we created a separate entrance and exit on the private side of the building to reduce the risk of patients being spotted by either the family or friends. We split out the counselling rooms from clinical spaces, or areas where there would be more foot traffic in order to encourage a more relaxed atmosphere.
High levels of acoustic separating materials were specified to ensure that private conversations, stayed that way and were not inadvertently spread to other areas through poor sound separation of rooms.
Since its opening, the clinic has proven to be a great success and the 5 consulting rooms, with clinical spaces, utility rooms, laboratories, ancillary offices and general accommodation, continue to provide clinicians with well-designed facilities and visitors with excellent and discreet care provision.
Our architects really listened to the outcomes that were important to us as a friendly and welcoming dental practice and managed to surpass them for both us and our patients.
Broad Street Dental Surgery, Hereford
A modern operating theatre will help us support a more comfortable and positive experience for patients. It also enables the hospital to be more efficient, minimise delays. Other facilities upgraded provide a much improved standard of area that supports the increased throughput of patients since the new IR theatre opened this year.
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
The nursing staff and patients are absolutely thrilled with this fantastic new state-of-the-art ward. It is dementia friendly, with colour-co-ordinated décor designed to help patients find their way around the ward and identify which is their room or bay and where the bathrooms and facilities are.
Stroud General Hospital