St Mary’s Hospital Achieves Resolution to Grant Planning Permission for new Eight Storey Building

AECOM has helped Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, achieve planning permission in principle by Westminster City Council to build a new eight-storey outpatients building at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington.  This is the first phase of a major development, master-planned by Feilden Clegg Bradley and AECOM, forming part of the Trust’s wider estates strategy to develop facilities that support major improvements in the quality and sustainability of the hospital’s services across all of its three main sites.

A third of the buildings on the St Mary’s site are over a hundred years old and are expensive to maintain and to run. The new building will be more efficient, using the best practice in design and technology, to enhance patient and staff experience. It will be located at the eastern side of the hospital estate at the location of Salton House.

The new building includes open and inviting walk-in entrances from Praed Street and South Wharf Road, with a public courtyard linking both streets. The design also includes an atrium at the centre of the building, drawing in light to create a welcoming environment. Flexible design was used, allowing space for specific clinics to be increased or decreased in response to need and enabling multiple uses where possible, including for research, teaching and health and wellbeing sessions.

AECOM, the premier, fully integrated global infrastructure firm, delivered multi-disciplinary engineering services and cost consultancy, as well as developing the relevant planning documents. The design of the New Outpatients Building started in January 2016 and was submitted in December 2016. AECOM’s role includes building engineering, transportation, quantity surveying, project management and programme advice, environment impact assessment, fire, acoustics, sustainability, wind modelling, air quality, ecology and arboricultural consultancy.

The redevelopment will enable the hospital to bring together the majority of its current St Mary’s outpatients services – currently provided from 40 different locations – with supporting diagnostics in a modern, flexible and welcoming facility.

Colin Page, Regional Director, Building Engineering, AECOM, said: “The development will pave the way for a fantastic outpatient building for the community and staff alike. It will support better care, improve patient experience and replace ageing buildings that are expensive to maintain and to run. AECOM is a long term strategic partner of the UK government this latest milestone strengthens our relationship with this important client.”

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust Chief executive, Ian Dalton CBE, said: “We’re very pleased that Westminster City Council has granted us planning permission in principle. It will bring major benefits for our patients and local communities as a key step in enabling us to replace our ageing estate with facilities that reflect and support the fantastic care and innovative treatment provided by our staff.

“The decision represents a huge amount of work on design and planning over the past two years and we are committed to continuing to involve staff, patients, carers, GPs, local residents and other stakeholders with an interest in the hospital’s future at every stage of the development.”