Guildford Borough Council has approved plans for a £25 million hospital development at the city’s Farnham Road Hospital submitted by the Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, advised by Tibbalds Planning and Urban Design.
Laing O’Rourke is leading the Procure 21 project team, and the lead consultant is Devereux Architects. The 6,354 m2, two-storey building will house four mental health wards with en suite bedrooms, together with therapy spaces. The scheme integrates existing wards in the main Grade II listed hospital building with the new facilities via a lightweight glazed link. Each building element will have “a different aesthetic” to help identify its function, with a reconstituted stone cladding to the wards, and Trespa rainscreen cladding to the therapy and entrance facilities. The colours chosen will coordinate with the existing retained listed buildings’ Bargate stone and red brick quoining. The site layout will create a “green heart”, transforming an under-used green space into the main arrival and social space, while each ward will have its own secure garden or upper level terrace. The new hospital will achieve a BREEAM “Excellent” rating.
