Working with NHS Trusts and healthcare providers across the UK, we understand that every healthcare construction project has different requirements and constraints.
Factors such as location of build, timescales, funding and urgency of need are all factors which can have an impact on determining the building technique(s) required. In some cases, for example our current healthcare construction project at Lister Hospital, a hybrid construction approach is required to meet the bespoke site conditions.
Hybrid construction combines traditional building methods with the benefits of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) to create structures that best meet the needs of the location as well as ensuring for sustainability, energy-efficiency, and the delivery of cost-effective solutions​​. This method marries traditional materials like brick, mortar, timber and clay with the innovation of modern materials like steel, composites and modular builds.
In summary, we use the term hybrid construction to refer to a bespoke construction solution to the site constraints.
Understanding hybrid constructions in healthcare
Case study: Lister Hospital
Paul Plummer, a Design Manager at Health Spaces, talks through the new theatre build at Lister Hospital which incorporates a steel frame, concrete platform and modular building on top:
“It is a complex structure. It sits up on the first floor and straddles the road that goes underneath it, but it also drops down another level into the service yard. We have a traditional built structure and a traditional built link section because we need to get emergency vehicles under the building, and therefore need to raise that section higher. We’ve also got the pre-constructed modular element of the theatre too.”
Shift towards sustainability
The evolution of construction practices to the present day reflects a shift towards the need to protect and support sustainability. Materials, which are renewable and recyclable, are paired with cutting-edge technologies like 3D printing, drones, and robotics to enhance efficiency and precision​​ in construction techniques.
Hybrid construction techniques offer several advantages. They are designed to minimise environmental impact through the use of eco-friendly materials and energy-efficient technologies where possible, as well as often offering long-term savings on energy and maintenance. Additionally, these construction techniques can offer flexibility in design, allowing for unique structures that need to integrate with existing infrastructure or heritage sites​​.
Innovation in healthcare construction
As building technologies advance, new techniques continue to emerge, such as the use of prefabricated components, which can help to reduce construction time at live hospital sites while also minimising environmental impact​​.
Modular hospital construction projects employ the use of pre-constructed modular units which can be built off-site in a controlled manufacturing environment. Often these structures can then be delivered to a hospital site anywhere between 70% and 90% complete. Not only does the use of off-site construction techniques in healthcare help to speed up programme times (with groundworks taking place con-currently to the modular construction itself), using modular construction in healthcare reduces disruption to and from a busy hospital site.
Hybrid construction model
A hybrid construction model, as with all healthcare construction work, needs early collaboration, ensuring the right stakeholders are involved from the beginning of the project’s journey – enhancing creative problem-solving between the healthcare client, designers and architects, and ensuring that what is built delivers the design objectives.
Future outlook and challenges
Looking forward, hybrid construction is expected to embrace greater modular and prefabricated components, enabling quicker and less disruptive on-site assembly. The design of healthcare facilities will likely incorporate more adaptable spaces catering to a broader range of services and patient care models.
About Health Spaces
We specialise in creating exceptional healthcare spaces for patients and staff – whether it’s renewing or improving existing health spaces, or building brand-new hospital facilities.
Unrestricted by any one form of healthcare construction, we work with our clients from the beginning of their healthcare journey to gain a clear understanding of the bespoke requirements from the outset to ensure the right construction methods are used for the project to deliver healthcare excellence, whether that’s traditional construction, MMC or a hybrid construction model.
“Our relationships with the NHS show that MMC is not a one size fits all solution – before MMC can be considered, we need to work with an NHS Trust to uncover the whole picture (from clinical requirements, NZC and budget, to understanding how a project fits into the wider estate plan for the next 5-10 years and beyond). Only once a brief is understood can you bring the correct, and experienced, network into the journey, which includes finding the right MMC partner(s) for a project – specialists who will work alongside clinicians, patients, estates teams, healthcare planners, architects, building contractors, M&E teams – ensuring we build what we set out to design.” – Kelvin Moulding, Managing Director, Health Spaces.
For our healthcare partners, it’s about applying the right methodology to each healthcare project and getting excellent engagement conducted early.
“Get this right and we can ensure our vision comes to life as intended… and pave the way for the innovative and impactful advancements our healthcare estates deserve.” – Kelvin Moulding.
The quality of design and building, and speed of the programme, can only be attributed to our full end-to-end methodology – which includes early and rich engagement between all the stakeholders – with everything working to the same objective.
Early engagement is key
Bringing the right experts together at the right time and for the right project is what will impact the delivery experience.
