The £2.1 million, 650 m2 Simpson Birth Centre, recently opened at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, was built by Premier Interlink (Waco UK) in just 28 weeks, to time and on budget, in a ‘total design and build contract’, with the design fully DDA and HTM-compliant.
Edinburgh’s new arrival for thousands of new arrivals
Births in Edinburgh and the Lothian area have reportedly been rising by over 10% per annum, and the new facility was constructed to meet the demand for extra maternity services. The contract was awarded to Premier Interlink by Consort Healthcare, working for NHS Lothian, as part of a multi-million pound investment in maternity care. The impressive new midwife-led centre has the capacity to treat an extra 1,500 expectant mothers in an extension to the main hospital building. This is Scotland’s biggest and busiest maternity unit, with over 6,000 babies born there every year. Formed from 27 of Premier Interlink’s PremierPlus bays, the Birth Centre houses six ‘state-of-the-art’ birthing suites with en suites and birthing pools, administration areas, and a first floor plant room. All of the equipment is stored in high-tech Mediwall built-in cabinets when not in use, to comply with HTM specifications. The building’s exterior is clad in attractive laminated, and ‘low maintenance’, Cedral cladding. PremierPlus is a steel-framed, permanent building solution that ‘provides clean, modern, and comfortable healthcare environments in a significantly shorter time than traditional build’. Premier Interlink says buildings can be completed up to 50% faster than via conventional construction, ‘at a highly competitive price’. A design life of over 100 years, ‘excellent acoustic performance’, and thermal efficiency standards that exceed Building Regulations, are other key features.
