Curious curves, playful yet welcoming, characterize the modular design of Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool. This unusual property, designed by BDP, was constructed using the offsite industry’s ‘Design for Manufacture and Assembly’ techniques that we pioneered with Laing O’Rourke.
The hospital buildings consist of approximately 12,000 precast units and 3,000 other pre-assembled components, including glazed screens, wiring assemblies and air handling plant. By rethinking the design of the wards using 3D visualizations, we were able to ensure services were correctly placed in the modular factory-built walls.
The cladding comprises pre-glazed, precast elements, which also act as loadbearing external walls. Factory-engineered, these robust triple-layered panels feature a structural concrete interior, insulation, and an exterior of pigmented architectural concrete. Floors and walls were added using lattice slab and twin-wall elements. All bathroom pods were manufactured offsite.
Rethinking the approach to delivering BDP’s inspiring architecture, meant the new hospital property was completed 20% quicker than could have been achieved using traditional building industry techniques.