Hinchingbrooke Masterplan

Hinchingbrooke Hospital is a modern purpose-built district general hospital near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. Offering a wide range of clinical services, it was opened in 1983 and was one of a number of standard ‘Best Buy’ Hospitals commissioned at that time. The main Hospital has 266 beds and was expanded with a 23 bed PFI Treatment Centre with five operating theatres in 2005 and a two-storey Diagnostic Treatment Centre comprising 8,500 square metres of floor space.  

Murphy Philipps have developed a whole site DCP (£650m) and have delivered the first phase of the redevelopment with a project value of £58m.

The site is situated on land adjacent to the Cambridgeshire Constabulary facilities, which have been extended over the intervening period, meaning reduced land availability.

Our proposed solution is based on our MPA Standard Platform, a modular design tool.  This uses spatially efficient repeatable room standards that are offers HBN compliant and deliver significant cost and programme benefits.

The site contains several buildings constructed from Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC). These required special consideration due to age and potential fragility. Our approach involved.

• Identifying RAAC presence through visual inspections and non-intrusive surveys
• Condition surveys with detailed structural evaluations and intrusive investigations where required
• A temporary remediation plan for reinforcement prior to eventual replacement
• Developing the DCP to address both immediate remediation and decant needs within the redevelopment strateg

The project team carried out extensive stakeholder engagement as part of the project process including:

• a comprehensive review of Trust requirements including the Trusts Sustainability Transformation Plan
• development of clinical service briefs
• proposed functional content and clinical adjacencies matrix
• Design options and options appraisal
• Proposed phasing approach to achieve the preferred DCP
• Infrastructure assessment to support the new development
• two high level programmes options
• detailed cost plan

Having worked closely with the clinical stakeholders the completed scheme provides a flexible, extendable proposal which works as a long-term solution whilst maintaining clinical services on the existing site.The detailed RAAC strategy additionally helps mitigate short term risks to the estate and a viable template for the longer-term future of the site.