Edinburgh Royal Infirmary
Client: Consort Health Care Architect: Keppie Architects Main Contractor: Balfour Morrison JV It replaces the existing Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and also incorporates a medical school for the University of Edinburgh. Knauf Drywall were involved from an early stage and worked with the design team to formulate a value engineered package which was capable of reducing cost and build time and simplifying partition types, all without compromising the performance criteria and finish required by the client. Knauf Drywall were chosen to participate in this project because of the pro-active approach taken by the Knauf Drywall team in gaining an understanding of the project requirements, working with architects and contractors to deliver the appropriate solutions. One of the many challenges facing Knauf Drywall was the development of partitions which incorporated or carried large volumes of services including medical gases, support rails for medical equipment, bed head trunking to carry electrical services, or docking devices to secure beds in position, all of which were a key part of the design brief.
The new Edinburgh Royal Infirmary is one of the largest PFI projects undertaken to date in the UK. The £180 million hospital which covers almost 100 acres will eventually provide 869 beds and 24 operating theatres and will employ some 5,000 staff. It will be one of the most technically modern facilities in Europe.
Various options were considered including the traditional method of fixing "plywood" within the partitions to accommodate the additional loads. This raised additional issues over costs, and more importantly, the possibility of changes to equipment during the four year Build Program.
The challenge was eventually overcome by applying some basic engineering logic. All loads, irrespective of the system adopted, would be transferred back to the studs. By reducing the stud centres from 600 mm to 400 mm all services could be fixed directly back to the studs and negate the need for 70% of the additional timber supports. This allowed a high degree of flexibility for the client and contractors alike, and more importantly, a significant cost saving was achieved. The vast size of the project also held logistical challenges. The frequency of deliveries and the number of subcontractors working on the hospital meant that Knauf Drywall had to devise a plan to overcome these issues. A simple but effective colour-coding system was developed to ensure that each sub-contractor received the correct product, and a complicated material scheduling exercise meant that the product was available when required both direct and ex-stock via our distribution network.