Oak Park Community Hospital

Oak Park Community Hospital, Childrens Unit
Client: Bluestone and East Hampshire Primary Care Trust
Project Value: £3.8Million

Designed and planned by Sohrab Rustomjee, the Children’s Unit comprised the first phase of a wider development which was to also incorporate a Community Hospital at Havant as part of East Hampshire’s LIFT programme. SR Architects were later used as Consultants for the Children’s Unit project which was completed in early 2006.

Located on a tight and difficult site and bounded between three roads and a new housing development, the building was developed as three individual wings incorporating facilities for pediatric therapies, speech and language therapy, a community pediatric service, child and family therapy and a unified adolescent team. The intention was to provide a building which, although far larger than the domestic-scaled buildings around it, would sit comfortably in its surroundings and provide a bright and welcoming, naturally ventilated environment whilst using a sustainable palate of materials to contribute to its low-energy and cost in use design credentials. The wings come together around a central entrance hub and double height space, providing a simple way-finding strategy and the areas between the wings were landscaped as therapeutic gardens for the children’s use.