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Designers have provided a first glimpse of how the new £800m hospital will look - a scheme comparable in size to the IFC, viewable from Elizabeth Castle, and including a King Street-length indoor boulevard, courtyard gardens and nature trails through the woodland.
Released today, the possible plans show that the campus will be made up of five buildings: the main hospital, a mental health centre, a ‘Knowledge Centre’ a multi-storey carpark, and an energy building,
The Government has also released its intentions for how the main access route via Westmount Road will look, and how People's Park will be adapted.
"This is a milestone in the 'Our Hospital' project - it's the first time we can see some real, tangible designs, not only for the hospital itself but for the public realm surrounding the hospital - the parks, the gardens and the road access," Deputy Chief Minister Senator Lyndon Farnham, who is leading the project, said.
The concept designs are subject to change following island-wide consultation - however, the designs shared today will underpin the business case needed to fund the project. How Jersey will pay for it will be debated and voted on by States Members in September.
CLICK TO ENLARGE: A birds' eye view of the new hospital 'masterplan'.
Once final alterations are made and design work is completed, a planning application for the hospital is expected to be submitted in November this year.
Though there are still two sites to acquire as part of the plans, Llewellyn Davies, Director and ‘Our Hospital’ Lead Architect Steve Featherstone said the team had come up with "workaround solutions" - alternative ways of laying out the new hospital if these purchases did not work out.
Express explored the plans in depth...
The main hospital unit would comprise of two clinical storeys on the Westmount road, increasing to five clinical storeys as one goes deeper into the site - this would approximately be the equivalent of the six storey International Finance Centre in size.
The exterior shaping of the hospital itself is still being decided on, with a number of designs, both one designed in a wave-like fashion, and one in a more sugar-cube style, being touted.
Pictured: The ground floor's boulevard will stretch 160m through the building.
The hospital’s ground floor would include a boulevard passing from East to West, with multiple entrances - the scale would be approximately 160m, the equivalent of King Street between the Co-op and Topshop stores.
Within and around this floor would sit amenities such as waiting areas, information pods, as well as the pharmacy.
There are also plans for a restaurant with a focus on Jersey produce. It will use a 'coastal' palette and natural materials.
Pictured: How the restaurant could look.
Outpatient activity would be kept predominantly to this floor, alongside acute services such as the Emergency Department, Radiology and the Acute Care Ward.
For the staff, a ‘decompression area’ would be created too at the south-west end of the floor, which would function as a staff welfare centre with pleasant views, giving them a place to go to wind down when they need to.
CLICK TO ENLARGE: An outline of the first floor.
On the first floor, directly above the Emergency Department and radiology, would be the location of hospital’s theatres.
Sitting alongside the theatres would be the Women and Children’s centres, Critical Care, Endoscopy, and a renal section.
Direct parking and a dedicated lift up to the renal department would also be installed, with the section being prioritised for South West coast views, to “enhance” the experience for those returning to the hospital on a regular basis for dialysis.
Clinical Director Ashok Handa explained that it was important to the team that patient-facing areas have natural light, with views either "within the squares with the landscaped areas or across the island."
The second floor would house the Chemotherapy Unit, as well as one inpatient ward, and a unit of 30 beds for private patients.
Pictured: An example of an inpatient ward.
The floor would be bookended with two terraced gardens that would sit above the main entrance.
Pictured: A concept of what the Inpatients' Waiting Lounge could look like
The third floor will house the bulk of inpatient accommodation, with four wards of 26 beds.
Pictured: An example of an ensuite bedroom.
75% of the hospital’s inpatient facilities will be single bedrooms with their own ensuite facilities, designed identically, with the rest as small four-bed wards.
Including the 30 beds in the private ward, the hospital would house 267 beds in total.
Pictured: The hospital gardens would retain the existing spreading Oak tree.
Most of the outdoor areas are south-facing, with the south-west garden on the site singled out “for escape, play and distraction, publicly accessible and creating new viewing platforms.”
A new public route from Westmount Road into the Val André woodland will also be created.
Deputy Chief Minister Senator Lyndon Farnham, who is the political lead for the project, also confirmed that the Val André woodland would remain completely public rather than being reserved for hospital patients alone - a sentiment echoed by LDA Landscape Designer, Neil Mattinson.
Pictured: An example of how the terraces and courtyards could be laid out within the hospital.
Around the area of the valley, an amphitheatre with a stage is being considered.
Greenery is also be incorporated into the buildings themselves - there four inner courtyard gardens at the centre of the site, with two terraced gardens sitting above the main entrance too. The courtyards, it's hoped, will be naturally cool microclimates.
Pictured: A dedicated mental health facility will sit near the hospital.
A separate mental health building is to be created to the north-east of the site, which will be a one to two-storey building.
This area - named Field 1550, which is believed to be the site of a former dolmen - was previously set to house the 'Knowledge Centre'.
The Knowledge Centre would be built on the site where Jersey Water currently is, once the building has been demolished.
Its brief will be for non-clinical uses, such as training staff and education relating to the hospital.
Pictured: Concept designs of how the new block could look.
As part of sustainability measures, the two to three-storey building will have a ‘biodiverse’ green roof inaccessible to the public, to aid creatures such as birds and butterflies, as well as general biodiversity in the area.
One of the key areas of controversy around the building of the new hospital has been the fate of Westmount Road, with many residents objecting to the widening of the road due to the impact it would have on surrounding environment and homes.
The current plans would see the road widened to around 10.7m - the carriageway itself would be widened to 6.7m, though Mr Welch noted that team hopes to reduce that on the straight lengths to around 6m.
There would also be 2m of footway and 2m of cycleway beside this, and 0.5m of verge around various areas such as the hairpin bend.
Pictured: How People's Park will look under the plans.
Mr Welch said this widening was predominantly for safe passage of the increased number of buses, whilst still enabling the ‘active travel corridor’ of both cyclists and walkers.
Steve Featherstone also guaranteed that the playground around People's Park would not be removed as part of the work, though it may have to "budge".
Pictured: A number of roads are currently being studied by the 'Our Hospital' team.
It’s not just Westmount that is being looked at for alterations.
Suggestions include work to enable a right-turn from the A1 St Aubin’s Road on to the A2 Victoria Avenue, and creating a right turn lane on Westmount Road.
Prohibition of traffic movements between Westmount Road and Tower Road from the west has also been considered to prevent “potential rat-running.”
A multi-storey car park also features in the plans towards the north-west of the site.
Pictured: The 'green' car park.
It would be covered in greenery, and would include clear lines of site to the main hospital to ensure 'wayfinding' is simple.
Pictured: The 'Our Hospital' team are aiming to see an increase of four buses per hour.
A bus stop opposite the front of the building will be established as the main stop, with Arup Senior Planner and the project’s transport lead, Alex Welch, adding that “there will be secondary consideration for stops either adjacent to the crematorium or internal, roughly in the vicinity of… the multi-storey carpark.”
He said the main stop would give flexibility to either use a town circular route via Tower Road, St. John’s Road and Queen’s Road, or create a new circular route in terms of a shuttle runs via and around the multi-storey car park.
The aim for this service would be to see an increase of four buses per hour.
Ambulances will have separate access off Westmount Road to Accident and Emergency.
CLICK HERE to visit a virtual exhibition of the new hospital designs.
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