Designs on drawing board for hospital

Six UK-based designers are preparing plans for the proposed three-floor development which will cost up to £30m, and the public will get to see the final designs next month.

Simon Morritt, chief executive at Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We’re delighted to be at a stage where we can ask some of the country’s top architects to produce ideas for a new wing.

“Parts of the hospital date back to 1903 and we want to make sure it is fit for purpose for everything we need to achieve over the coming decades.

“We’re in a tough financial climate at the moment and so plan to make this a jointly funded scheme between the NHS and The Children’s Hospital Charity.

“We are very excited to see how the architects will prepare a building which meets the needs of our patients and clinicians in an environmentally sensitive way.

“Holding this competition will allow us to get the best possible design for the new wing which is extremely important when we think about how adaptable it will need to be for the years to come.”

The newly built extension will be joined to the hospital, creating a new entrance at its current main reception.

It will house a new outpatient department as well as three new wards of 72 beds altogether including many more single en-suite bedrooms.

The architects, who were short-listed following a public tender invitation, have also been challenged to come up with solutions for car parking for families.

The designs will be produced by December 13 and will then be displayed for the public to view on the Trust website at www.sheffieldchildrens.nhs.uk and in other locations around the city.