RSCH development, Mar 2017 - Jan 2020.

RSCH redevelopment - stage 1 progress

Bird's-eye view of the construction site for the Stage 1 Building that will open in the winter of 2020/21. It is the larger of the two new buildings the redevelopment will provide. Eastern Road, the main road past the front of the hospital, is at the top of the picture.

The foundation piles for the building have been completed and the excavation work is well underway. Most of the site, except the area immediately adjacent to Eastern Road, will be dug down two and half storeys. This is to accommodate underground car parking and the building’s plant rooms.

Excavations are complete across the north of the site (the bottom of the picture). The buidling’s foundation slab is being constructed in that area. Looking carefully it is possible to see the places where some of the building’s lifts will be installed, towards the bottom of the picture.

Two of the four tower cranes that will be used in the construction of the building are already in place. A third crane is on top of the tower block, working on the construction of the helideck.

Over the next three months: excavations will be completed, the foundation slab will be nearing completion and the other two tower cranes will be set up on site.

Simulated fly-through of the RSCH redevelopment

The video is derived from a virtual reality modelling of the new development which has been created to aid staff familiarisation and training.

The VR model reflects all the information in the redevelopment’s Building Information Modelling (BIM) database. The VR model will continue to be updated until the end of the hospital redevelopment as new equipment is bought and the interior design of the new buildings takes shape.

This work on VR has been short-listed for Building Magazine’s BIM initiative of the year.

New A & E Department gets go-head.

The planned expansion of the RSCH Accident & Emergency Department has been approved by the city’s Planning Committee.

The current department has insufficient patient capacity and failed to meet performance standards for a number of years. The new plan will provide space for 70 short-stay assessment beds over two floors, and for complete refurbishment of the A&E department. The proposal aims to provide a much-needed fit-for-purpose facility, reduce pressure on scarce beds in the main hospital, and improve clinical care.

The new 70 bed Short Stay Unit will care for both surgical and medical patients who need to be admitted to hospital for 48 hours or less.

The new unit  will be housed  in an extension of the existing A&E Building on Bristol Gate. It will be located above the department’s ambulance and car drop off and will stand on columns to allow access for vehicles and pedestrians to the front door of A&E.

RSCH car park - access route change.

From Tuesday 29 August until Sunday 24 September the normal route to the multi-storey car park, from Bristol Gate across the hospital site, will be shut. This is to allow the delivery of modules for a new building in the hospital and engineering works to connect it to power and water supplies.

During this period drivers should follow the signposted route (shown in blue on the image below) to reach the hospital’s multi-storey car park.

To help manage traffic during this period:

The bottom of Whitehawk Hill Road will be made one way (from north to south), as shown in red on the image below.
Parking bays next to the hospital on both Upper Abbey Road and Whitehawk Hill Road will be suspended.
Please allow extra time if you are driving to the hospital and wish to park in the multi-storey car park.

If possible, please think about using a different way to reach the hospital or parking elsewhere. Links to information about using public transport to reach the hospital can be found on the RSCH information page.

Pavement closed at the RSCH

Construction traffic to the hospital has to enter and leaves the site through gates on Eastern Road and has to cross the pavement to do so. For future building works this traffic will increase in intensity. To help keep everyone safe the pavement in front of the construction site is going to be closed from Monday 7th August until the new building opens in the winter of 2020/21.

The closure will be between the pedestrian crossing in front of the hospital and the east end of the hospital site, at the junction of Eastern Road and Bristol Gate. A new pedestrian crossing is being put in next to Eaton Place and will be ready for use before 7th August. Once it opens there will be a pedestrian crossing near to both ends of the closed pavement.

Editor's note: This is going to seriously increase the congestion on the narrow pavement opposite, particularly around the bus-stop. 

The pavement opposite