OHMG’s delivery of the £40m Lisburn Primary & Community Care Centre (LPCCC) at Lagan Valley Hospital creates a benchmark for integrated healthcare provision in Northern Ireland.
The LPCCC extends to almost 13,000sqm and brings together eight GP practices and a range of non-emergency health services to transform health care services for the local community. By integrating primary and community care services, it represents a transformation in the way that healthcare is delivered in line with the Department of Health’s Health and Wellbeing 2026 – Delivering Together strategy.
Located adjacent to the listed maternity building within the Lagan Valley Hospital complex, the LPCCC design comprises a four-storey building over a full basement. Art, poetry, colour and gentle way-finding link all key public spaces from the external approach, through the main entrance and on to transition points that create a vibrant interior scheme.
Construction
The variable ground conditions on this sloping site required both piled and ground-bearing foundations, while off-site prefabrication was used where possible to minimise disruption to hospital activities on this highly serviced healthcare project.
The multi-storey car park was framed using structural steelwork, with long-span cellular beams, pre-coated to maintain durability in their exposed location.
The building foundations included a reinforced concrete basement, tanked using both a caltite tanking additive to the concrete and a visqueen waterproofing product.
An in-situ reinforced concrete flat-slab framed superstructure was adopted to maximise available space for distribution of complex buildings services down stand-free slab soffits.
Challenges
Unsurprisingly, the major challenge facing the construction team was the onset and onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic. The ‘stay at home’ message meant that several key suppliers had to close. However, OHMG staff worked longer days and weekends to deliver the project, becoming willing key workers.
Management of the deliveries of materials and maintaining access to and from the project was challenging, given that the blue route – which ran adjacent to the building – had to be kept clear at all times, to avoid hindering ambulance emergencies.
Diversion of existing services – gas, water, electricity – required installation of new lines around the site boundary into footways which were heavily serviced with existing utilities. This was completed without any incident or inconvenience to the existing hospital operation. In fact, OHMG was commended by the HSE for the zero impact and high standards of safety maintained during these works.
Another challenge lay with stakeholder engagement as approval needed to be gained from a large number of stakeholders throughout the D+B process.
Commenting on the completed project, Sean Morgan, Bid Manager for OHMG said, “The project is a testament to OHMG’s philosophy, which is focused on working collaboratively with both our client and subcontractors to meet the ultimate end goal of successful project delivery. We would not have been able to do this without the buy-in and commitment shown by our design team and supply chain engaged on the Lisburn PCCC. Their hard work and dedication to delivering on programme and to the required quality of workmanship is widely evident.”
Cathal O’Hare, Construction Director for OHMG added, “OHMG is extremely proud of this prestigious and landmark development which has seen the design, build, finance and now operation of a new state of the art Primary & Community Care Centre in Lisburn.
“The project benefitted significantly from OHMG’s drive and our extensive experience in the healthcare sector across Northern Ireland. We are delighted that the building has been handed over on time and has been well received by the Trust, which is a testament to all of the team involved.”
For the full article on Lisburn Primary & Community Care Centre, see NIBuilder issue 33-2 Apr-May:
