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Turf cut at £48m Royal Edinburgh Campus

January 22 2015

Turf cut at £48m Royal Edinburgh Campus
A ground breaking ceremony has taken place at the site of NHS Lothian’s £48m first phase redevelopment of its Royal Edinburgh Campus.

Undertaken in partnership with Hub South East Scotland the work will see Morrison Construction deliver a new adult acute mental health inpatient service and brain injury unit to designs by Archial Norr.

Brian Houston, chair, NHS Lothian said: “This is an extremely exciting time in the proud 200 year history of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital. The redevelopment will build on that history and, having been shaped with the help of our patients, it will allow our staff to continue to provide safe, effective healthcare and rehabilitation.

“Throughout the extensive planning process we listened to what mattered most to people and with the invaluable input of patients and their families, third sector organisations and staff we will have a facility we can be proud of.”

Phase one works are expected to complete by autumn 2016.
The complex will house a new brain injury unit
The complex will house a new brain injury unit
The new hospital will take the form of a series of interconnected pavilions
The new hospital will take the form of a series of interconnected pavilions

6 Comments

Art Vandelay
#1 Posted by Art Vandelay on 22 Jan 2015 at 11:18 AM
Is that not the Maze Prison?
james
#2 Posted by james on 22 Jan 2015 at 11:37 AM
Where is Aldo Van Eyck when he is needed most? This HUB procurement route and the architects who participate in it simply has to STOP. What it creates are prisons. Whether it is a school, or a mental health unit, is irrelevant. All that this procurement route (and all who sail in it) does is to grind out an institutionalised and essentially inhumane environment incarcerating others. The architects of Archial Norr really ought to spend 6 months (even without medication) in such an institution that they have designed. Make no mistake about it, this type of homogenous prison with locked wards is a nightmare for those who are sectioned / imprisoned there. I end as i began - Where is Aldo Van Eyck when he is needed most? Surely a more liberated, more compassionate heterogenous design approach is more socially appropriate and empathetic rather than this updated Victorian workhouse? Archial Norr should be ashamed of themselves. Interconnected pavilions? My arse. Forget the PR - they listened to nobody. Follow the money.
themadattic
#3 Posted by themadattic on 23 Jan 2015 at 12:44 PM
#2 James - It was a good rant, if slightly ill-informed. I would agree that the rhetoric used by the team is obviously padding and I would also agree that the visuals do not sell the scheme well. However, the nature of the environment created, and the quality of the ward spaces is not evident from the three images shown. For all we know these could be wonderfully designed spaces catering for the individual and helping them to live a fantastic quality of life. Who knows?

As a profession we need to be careful not to berate our own when we do not fully understand the circumstances behind the project.

On your second point. HUB, while it has its issues, is necessary in Scotland to allow us to build the types of facilities we need, given the current unavailability of funding.
Stevie Steve
#4 Posted by Stevie Steve on 23 Jan 2015 at 13:30 PM
I hope this project is enough to declare HUB a failure... @themadattic surely if you were posting images to an architecture blog these would be the best ones? I wouldn't hope for any miracles here...
Davie Dave
#5 Posted by Davie Dave on 25 Jan 2015 at 08:36 AM
Hub is only a failure in the eyes of those who wish to squander cash

Their role has now been so degraded to the point where their views and opionions hold little or no value.

You can sit and moan all you like about hub but what are you going to do about it ?
Neil C
#6 Posted by Neil C on 25 Jan 2015 at 20:27 PM
@5 So true, all you really need for a school is a big shed. Why bother with windows either when views only distract. Anything else squanders cash. It's only school kids so why bother?

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