Completion date: Ongoing
Contract value: £4m
Gross internal floor area: 2,145 sq.m.
The site is an agricultural field in a quiet peaceful location on the edge of the village of Hillington in West Norfolk. It is an ideal location for a hospice. the site has open views to the south with a small wood on its northern boundary.
The practice was appointed as architects and a planning application was submitted after a number of potential sites were explored. Extensive planning consultation process took place with presentations and discussion with, the general public and parish council. Planning approval was granted subject to a number of conditions.
MSA were also employed to carry out a project management role to ensure that all the conditions could be met to allow an initial start on site to allow fundraising to commence.
Extensive discussions took place with the ecologist and Natural England to agree on a license and timetable to carry out the works which accommodated a number of protected species including Great Crested newts and Woodlarks.
The potential Impact of the development on the neighbours and rural edge character site was influential on the final position of the building. Carr stone from a nearby quarry has been incorporated into key elements of the external treatment to provide a link to the locality.
The single storey hospice is designed with the key wings wrapped around a large landscaped courtyard.
The Out Patient Unit, which is the most heavily trafficked area of the building is close to the main entrance and leads through to the Day Patient Unit where users visit for the day and then on to the Sanctuary and the In Patient Unit where there is more privacy and less foot traffic.
The design of the building is contemporary without being ostentatious. The external materials are a mixture of local brick timber cladding and the local stone for used in key parts of the building. The roofs are of natural slate, Norfolk pantiles zinc and areas of sedum for the links between different departments.
The building was designed from two user's very different points of view, the care staff who need a medically efficient, functional environment and the patients who needs to feel like as a guest in an hotel.