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The lead architect of the new hospital at Overdale has told a planning inquiry that he recognised that the design would challenge a number of planning policies given the building’s size and location on a hill overlooking town.
Steve Featherstone, a director at Our Hospital project partner Llewelyn Davis, said that it was “self-evident” that such a large-scale development on a hill would “create a volume that would challenge a number of design policies”.
These “challenges”, he said, included its impact on the character of the immediate area, the skyline and the planning policies on tall buildings.
The task of building a hospital on an escarpment 60m above sea level, he said, was enshrined in the quasi-equation of A+B=C.
‘A’ was the allocated site, he said. This was Overdale, which had been selected by the States Assembly in November 2020.
Pictured: Architect Steve Featherstone addresses the hospital planning inquiry at St. Paul’s Centre.
‘B’ was the ‘functional brief’ set by clinicians, who had worked out that the main hospital building needed to be 70,000 sq m to accommodate all the required services to modern standards of healthcare.
The result, ‘C’, was the design: the mass, scale and volume of buildings needed to accommodate the requirements of ‘B’ on area ‘A’.
Mr Featherstone then detailed the six iterations of design that had ultimately led to the final version being submitted as part of a planning application, which independent inspector Philip Staddon is assessing this week before making a recommendation to Environment Minister John Young.
CLICK TO ENLARGE: A drawing showing the heights of the proposed main hospital building.
Mr Featherstone’s point was that the location was fixed and the functional brief had been determined, after a significant amount of engagement with clinicians, the main contractor and public consultation.
He added that protecting the escarpment of Westmount and its ecology was paramount but it was inevitable that the main building, which is more than 31m high at its highest point, would be visible from a number of points.
The idea of lowering the main building but spreading it out further would not be practical from a clinical perspective, he said.
The Government and Our Hospital team, however, believe that the benefits of the project significantly outweigh the planning policy challenges it faces.
This view, however, is not shared by Planning, who maintain that the size and scale of the building does not meet the various policy tests established in the recently approved Bridging Island Plan.
CLICK TO ENLARGE: A bird’s eye view of the hospital site.
This view has also been adopted by the Jersey Architecture Commission, a 12-member advisory group that provides independent, expert advice to the Environment Minister and his team on major and sensitive developments in Jersey.
The Commission’s Executive Officer, Tracey Ingle - who is not a member but supports its work - told the inquiry on Monday afternoon that it remained “very concerned” about the main building’s mass and scale.
Mr Featherstone, who said he had designed more than 30 hospitals, also told the inquiry that Overdale was “a great site” for one.
Video: Yesterday's afternoon session.
“You want to be close to the natural environment to support the recovery and wellness of patients, and views are also important,” he said. “There are two sides to the coin: patients will enjoy those long views but, at the same time, the building periscopically pops up above the skyline.”
The five-day inquiry continues on Tuesday with evidence given about the impact of the proposed project on residents and heritage sites.
You can watch this morning's session live here.
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