The first phase of plans to transform the King’s Hall heritage site in south Belfast to a Health and Wellbeing Campus has been granted approval by Belfast City Council.
Todd Architects and Consarc Design Group are working with healthcare specialist developers Benmore Octopus Healthcare Developments, on what the architects describe as ‘the design of an innovative health park masterplan located at the iconic Kings Hall, South Belfast’. The King’s Hall Health and Wellbeing Park is a joint venture between Benmore Group and healthcare and property investor, Octopus Healthcare.
Todd Architects said: “The campus will be the first of its kind, setting a new standard for healthcare provision in Northern Ireland. It will provide GP services in new accommodation for population south of the city.”
The ‘vision’ is to create an integrated healthcare model which will be part of a wider ‘lifestyle, leisure, and wellbeing park’. The masterplan scheme for the 68,424 m2 site encompasses a range of integrated and onsite health, community, and leisure facilities. These include a primary care complex, alongside ancillary medical facilities, with the ability to accommodate care for over 25,000 patients. The suburban city redevelopment will also include elderly residential care facilities – comprising independent living apartments and bespoke homes for the over-55s, as well as a hotel and residents’ gym facilities and a multi-storey car park.
Todd Architects said: “Architecturally, the former King’s Hall landmark venue will be sensitively refurbished, with the primary design ambition being to preserve the heritage of this iconic and unique 1930s art deco building. The existing Kings Hall will sit at the heart of the scheme, along with the addition of new, neighbouring medical and accommodation-based facilities masterplanned to create a village feel. The architectural team has developed this landmark regeneration masterplan, working closely with the developers and collaborating with Belfast City Council, extensively engaging with various healthcare stakeholders and the local community.”
David Burrows, of Benmore Octopus, says the proposed £100 m project will be ‘the most innovative healthcare and wellbeing hub in the UK’. He explained: “It will create next generation GP care services for the growing population of south Belfast, as well as delivering a range of on-site diagnostic facilities alongside housing options for the over 55-plus. We believe the King's Hall Health and Wellbeing Park will be a beacon of excellence and a standard bearer for integrated healthcare provision in the city and Northern Ireland going forward.”
It is proposed that works will start on site in 2019.
