Vistamatic’s vision panels and leveroperated observation screens feature in the new Women and Children’s Centre at North Middlesex University Hospital, required to accommodate an increase in maternity patients and around 2,000 additional births annually in North Middlesex.
The £17.9 m facility was procured under ProCure21+, and was built by Kier Construction, with AHP Architects & Surveyors providing the architectural and project management resources. The project made use of a Yorkon off-site solution from the Portakabin Group, with the 152 steel-framed Yorkon modules, each up to 18 m long, and weighing up to 18.5 tonnes, that make up the Centre, craned into position in just 28 days.
The building’s external appearance reflects adjacent facilities’ design, and features rendered façades, ribbon glazing around the first floor perimeter, a large two-storey atrium entrance, and lightwells providing further natural daylight inside.
Vistamatic standard open/close vision panels were used in doors and walls to enable hospital staff to keep a close eye on vulnerable patients in acute wards that support the A&E department. The company, selected by AHP based on the reliability and quality of its products, and its ability to offer ‘supply only’, also supplied its lever-operated VISTA-Slide observation screens. These operate in a lateral fashion, with the linear design moving vertically from side to side within the confines of the metal-framed or sealed unit.
