Whanganui Hospital redevelopment

The redevelopment of Whanganui Hospital was the first project undertaken by Lockwood Naylor Ltd, a joint venture company between McMillan & Lockwood and Naylor Love, in association with our Wellington division.

The project involved demolition of a large part of the existing hospital and refurbishment of what was left standing, and the construction of two major new buildings, the perioperative block and the acute services building – all while the hospital remained open, requiring both intricate planning and stringent adherence to noise, dust and infection controls in the sensitive environment.

Lockwood Naylor was extensively involved in the project from its inception, helping to plan the business case to put to the government for funding, and in the design of the buildings.

The new single-level portal-framed structures were the first buildings in the world to use innovative New Zealand-designed RoGlider base isolation, allowing for seismic movement of up to 400mm in any direction. The design also allows future changes to the layout inside the shell while keeping the structure largely untouched, and utilises an under croft to carry the services, allowing easy access to them without disruption.

The 1,600m² perioperative block consists of four theatres with recovery wards and back-up facilities. Careful planning was required to ensure that there were always two theatres available for use as existing theatres were decommissioned.

The 2400m² acute services block houses the privately run Wanganui Accident and Medical, accident and emergency, a critical care ward with five beds, a maternity ward with three birthing suites, a pediatrics ward, and support areas.

Renovations to existing facilities were carried out to the outpatients’ area, ultrasound, X-ray and scanner areas, medical and surgical wards, dental and assessment, treatment and rehabilitation wards.

Throughout the project Lockwood Naylor worked closely with both specialist medical and community user groups to gain an understanding of all their requirements and expectations, and by working closely with the design consultants, managed to ensure that more was built for less with the tight budget.