Selected Project
Christchurch Womens Hospital & Day Surgery Unit
Christchurch Womens Hospital and Day Surgery Unit The relocation of Christchurch Women’s Hospital onto the Christchurch Hospital campus is both Chow:Hill’s largest single building project to date and its first South Island commission. The company is providing services as health planner, architect and project manager for the $76 million project, which is due for completion in March 2005. Many months of close consultation with hospital staff has generated a facility design that reflects modern healthcare services and a realistic project budget. The new building is a state-of-the-art, purpose-designed facility for Canterbury District Health Board’s women’s health services and also incorporates a new Day Surgery Unit integrated with existing theatres at Christchurch Hospital. Having established a strong public identity as an independent service over many years, maintaining the distinct character of the Women’s Hospital while integrating with the main hospital was a key factor of the design of the new building. With services planned in 2100 m2 floor plates and over ten floor levels, siting and design of the building on an already busy hospital site adjacent to Hagley Park and a historically important Nurse’s Memorial Chapel became critical. Placed at an angle across the site, the building minimises overshadowing of other buildings and clearly establishes a distinct identity. Design of the exterior has been carefully considered to respond to environmental conditions of each aspect, express something of the service within and to break up each large elevation through layered elements and surfaces. The building is essentially a simple rectangular form with structure and services carefully controlled and placed to allow both flexibility in current use and adapatability in fitout to meet future needs. It is also one of the very few seismically base-isolated structures in the New Zealand, designed to remain standing in case of an earthquake. With a full complement of services – from theatres to radiology – the building is intended to operate as a stand-alone crisis unit in case of civil emergency.
- Category
- Healthcare
- Location
