Wales

£4.4m new integrated day centre boost at Garngoch Hospital

£4.4 million is being ploughed into developing a state of the art integrated day centre for older people with mental health problems on the Garngoch Hospital site in Swansea, replacing an outdated facility with a fit for purpose unit.

The facility, which won financial backing from the Welsh Assembly, will also include accommodation for community mental health teams (CMHT) who will be based there.

The project is being carried out for Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University NHS Trust by Main Contractors Carillion. Architects and Project Managers are EPT Partnership

The new centre, called Ty Garngoch, is a two storey timber framed building with external elevations in a combination of timber weatherboard, brickwork and render, with specialist Poletec windows and a pitched slate roof. The aim of the design is to make the building look as environmentally pleasing as possible, in keeping with its rural surroundings.

Forest Timber, located close to the development, have supplied the timber frame for the scheme. “This is the first time I have been involved in a project using timber frame and the speed at which it has been erected has really impressed me. I would definitely use it in the future” said Sean Fenn of Carillion.

External works include the provision of an enclosed courtyard therapeutic landscaped garden measuring approximately 50 m by 30 m, together with further extensive landscaping with walkways and seating areas, the provision of additional parking bays, ambulance drop off areas, reconfiguration of an existing road, to allow for easy traffic flow and the installation of photocell lighting around the perimeter of the site.

The new hospital will include permanent CMHT support facilities, along with 12 interview rooms, ‘quiet’ rooms, general staff offices, a large lounge with a high ceiling and glass partition walls, activity and therapy rooms, clinical rooms, a memory clinic, a large reception and waiting area for relatives, and kitchen and welfare facilities.

Sean Fenn said: “It’s nice to work on a project that will be beneficial to the residents here. It is one of those jobs where you feel you are helping the public. We have really got involved in this scheme in helping with events to raise funds. The most important thing for us is to build relationships with the client and with the people who will use the facility. The real pleasure for us will be in seeing everyone move into the new facility.”

Currently the project is going well with the roof being completed and the window installation underway. The building is expected to be watertight in around a month, when mechanical and electrical works will commence.

Liz Clarke-Smith, consultant psychiatrist (old age psychiatry), said: “I am delighted that the Welsh Assembly is continuing to support major investment in provision of state of the art facilities for older people with mental health problems.

“This development at Garngoch will support our dedicated staff in continuing to provide and enhance vital services to our patients in the community.

“This is uplifting positive news for Older Peoples’ Mental Health Services in Swansea and in particular at Garngoch.”

Completion is due in May 2012.

Carillion plc is one of the UK’s leading support services and construction companies, employing around 50,000 people. The company has an annual revenue of around £5 bn and operations across Britain and in Europe, Canada, the Middle East, North Africa and Caribbean.

Carillion has a portfolio of award-winning work in areas vital to society: health, education and regeneration, road, rail, defence and commercial property. From first concept to ongoing facilities management and support services, Carillion provide high quality, cost effective and sustainable solutions, tailored to the needs of customers.

The company has a unique approach that builds long-term relationships with customers, based on values of openness, collaboration, mutual dependency, professional delivery, sustainable, profitable growth and innovation.

 

About the author

Roma Publications