On 8 September, 2011, Apollo’s development in Clydach hosted a delegation from the Liberian Government, Welsh Government and Abertawe Bro Morganwg University Health Board. The visit by Dr Dahn, the Liberian Health Minister, Win Griffiths, Chairman of ABMU and Paul Roberts the new Chief Executive of ABMU, was aimed at assisting the Liberian Government in their efforts to reform the provision of health in Liberia.

Liberia, like many other African nations is desperate for health reform. In 2007 the World Health Organisation were reporting 1 GP per 50,000 patients (UK is 1 per 1500 average). Efforts have been made to quadruple this figure since this report but current estimates indicate the ratio is still worryingly high.

The delegation toured Clydach for 2 hours where they inspected the consulting rooms, treatment areas and minor operations suite in the company of Dr Richard Tristham the lead GP for Clydach, and Mike Garner the Practice Manager for Clydach. The group then visited Singleton Hospital in Swansea to inspect the acute care provision in Swansea.

By all accounts the visit was a great success with all the delegates being highly impressed by the quality and feel of the premises and also in the way the practice was managed and run.

 Even though this scheme was completed in 2009, Apollo still has a very close relationship with the practice and continue to assist in FM and maintenance issues to this day.

 For more information on Liberia’s health profile visit the World Health Organisation web site : http://www.who.int/countries/lbr/en/

Apollo’s Welsh office were recently delighted to report the legal close of the SA1 scheme in Swansea. The 3500sqm scheme in the prestigious SA1 Development and on the gateway into the site, acquired by Apollo from the Welsh Assembly Government, has detail planning consent and is currently out to tender. Works on site are scheduled to commence in September 2011 and be complete early 2013. This unique scheme brings together two GP practices, ABMU Health Board, Eastside Dental Centre, Swansea University and the Coop Pharmacy.

Apollo’s Procurement Director Rob James said:

“Understanding the individual needs and requirements of the 6 users groups and bringing these together into one facility has been challenging but ultimately rewarding. Reaching legal close is the culmination of 4 years of work and thanks need to go out to the project group for their continued patience and humour throughout. We are now looking forward to delivering an excellent building which far exceeds expectations”.

The Apollo Capital Projects” scheme in the Rumney area of Cardiff has been submitted for detail planning consent. A decision is expected in August 2011 with work due to commence in early 2012. Apollo recently secured the former Castlefileds site in Rumney from Cardiff Council for the 2400sqm development. The scheme will include Primary Care facilities for the Rumney Medical Practice and Cardiff & Vale University Health Board. In addition, a pharmacy will be located in a linked building to allow convenience to patients. The development will become the largest single site practice in Cardiff with over 15,000 patients and growth potential for up to 17,000 patients.

Rob James, Apollo’s Procurement Director said:

“The Project Group are delighted to have reached this significant stage on this project and are looking forward to a positive outcome from planning which will be the springboard to the next stage of the scheme and onto construction”.

The scheme was approved by the Welsh Government in late April 2011 and is due for completion by early to mid 2013.

As part of our regular team meetings and keeping abreast of market developments, a trip was organised to visit Houghton Le Spring near Sunderland to experience the first Healthcare building to achieve the score for BREEAM Outstanding.

Already having a range of experiences within the team of how BREEAM works in practice, it was interesting for us all to see first hand how a new build project can be designed to achieve the Outstanding level.

The day was hot and sunny and the site was extremely busy as it was heading towards completion later in the summer. The tour of the building was led by the project architects P&HS who expertly guided us all through the various aspects of the building explaining the sustainable design principles and the outputs generated.

Whilst the Apollo team is familiar with the majority of the sustainable aspects of this new building, including PV panels, ground source heat pumps and rainwater harvesting, the most interesting and certainly new to us, was the one metre wide “concrete thermal wall”, spanning the length of the building, which will provide natural ventilation throughout the building. The “wall” was a stack ventilation system comprising 50 ventilation chimneys designed by Breathing Buildings which, once fully operational, will help maintain a constant suitable internal environment for the building. Whilst the central concrete wall was impressive the real “wow” factor was the underground plenum which will store cool air and give the building system a cooling boost when required. Not all of us took the short restricted tour under the building but we did all enjoy the roof top tour where we saw the vast number of PV panels tucked behind a parapet wall and the vertical axis wind turbine.

Prior to the building tour we all participated in a “Sustainable “ seminar where we shared ideas and experiences gained from our own building projects and compared these to the next level required to achieve the Outstanding BREEAM award.

Richard Drew, our Development Director (North) said:

The key message learnt was that the principle of targeting BREEAM Outstanding has to be taken on board by everyone, right from the outset of the scheme; it couldn’t realistically be targeted any later as this will adversely impact on the scheme costs and viability.

Targeting BREAAM Outstanding will have an influence on site selection and will require keeping a keen focus on all aspects of BREAAM throughout the design stage and implementing this throughout the construction phase. In order to fully benefit from the building systems and sustainable features, the end users must be fully conversant with the building and understand the way it is intended to operate. At Apollo we all fully appreciate this vital last link in the chain towards BREEAM accreditation as we actively interface with all our occupiers throughout the project and most importantly, upon completion of our new schemes to ensure that they are completely satisfied with the product we have delivered for them.

Matt Eminson, currently undertaking work experience with the Apollo team said:

“It was a really enjoyable day and now I understand the principles of BREEAM and how it is delivered in practice on a building site.”

So the day came to a close and we headed off in different directions to reflect on our company achievements and look forward to the completion of our own first BREEAM Excellent building in Glasgow later this summer!!

Watch this space for a news item on this after the summer.

Following our report back in April that local contractor RL Davies of Colwyn Bay had been awarded the construction contract, building work has started on the new and eagerly awaited Primary Care Centre in Mold. The new facility, which will house two GP surgeries and staff from Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB), will provide services for more than 8,000 patients.

Geoff Lang, Director of Primary Care for BCUHB, said:

“We are delighted that patients in Mold will soon be benefiting from greatly improved facilities. And we hope the two practices coming together in a single building will open up opportunities to develop new services in the future that might not have been feasible for one individual surgery.”

Apollo”s Development Director, Richard Drew, said:

“This new and long-awaited facility will provide excellent accommodation where the doctors and other practice staff can deliver services to benefit their patients from Mold and the surrounding areas.”

Health chiefs have said that the centre will have the capacity to take on up to 3,500 patients over the following five years.

The new centre will be completed in the Spring of next year.

Another new building is on its way…..

It’s all systems go for the Carlton Medical Practice following the signing of their legal agreements this month. This was all possible following an extensive site search in the densely populated neighbourhood surrounding the surgery, consulting the practice patient group and the local community. The chosen site finally ended up being less than 100 meters from the existing surgery, an end of terrace former residential property which was no longer suitable for the delivery of modern healthcare services.

The new 800m2 surgery building, designed by local architects Pearce Bottomley, has a very contemporary design with crisp detailing offering bright spacious and flexible accommodation over two floors.

Carlton Medical Practice is a four GP practice serving 6,000 patients in a community just to the north west of Bradford city centre and close to the Bradford Royal Infirmary. Once relocated they will benefit from 7 consulting rooms, a treatment room and a multi purpose health education room suitable for a variety of uses and services. Additionally there will be a pharmacy within the building operated by Lloyds.

Building works will commence in the summer delivering a BREEAM rated building of ”Excellent”. This will be achieved by sourcing as many materials as possible locally, using natural ventilation and daylight, and a combination of underfloor and conventional radiators powered by a combined heat and power unit; these will all combine to reduce the carbon footprint and provide savings to the energy demands of the building.

Internally the space will centre around the main waiting and reception area which will have an impressive double height, partially glazed roof. Expansion will be possible to the rear of the building offering up to 20% more accommodation thereby future proofing the building for many years to come.

The start of 2012 will herald a new era for the practice which has been serving patients and the community in this part of Bradford for over 100 years.

Building works will commence next month following the purchase of the former council owned storage site on Glanrafon Road in the heart of Mold town centre. The new and eagerly awaited building will be constructed by local contractor R L Davies from Colwyn Bay. Two GP practices will be relocating to this new facility early next year, leaving behind their existing surgery premises which are no longer suitable for the delivery of modern day health care.

The 1100m2 two storey building, sympathetically designed to reflect the adjacent listed buildings, will create a new focal point within the main town centre car parking area on New Street. Each GP practice will have their own identity within the building emphasised by individualised interior design which will be complemented by local art features in the main entrance lobby and waiting areas.

The Grosvenor Street and the Bradley Practices will share the building together with staff from the Local Health Board (Betsi Calwaladr University Health Board), offering services to over 8,000 patients. In addition to consulting and treatment rooms there will be a minor operations room and a multi function room suitable for larger group meetings and clinics.

The building has been designed to provide expansion space which is immediately available on both the ground and first floors, to accommodate anticipated increases in patient list sizes and new services.

Construction will consist of as many locally sourced materials as possible, blending products and textures to create a welcoming building to serve the local community. The highest building standards will be achieved and the end product will be accredited with a BREEAM rating of ”Very Good” with ”Excellent” for energy saving thereby reducing the building”s carbon footprint. The building will be naturally ventilated and heated by a combination of underfloor heating and conventional radiators powered by a combined heat and power unit. As well as the best use of natural sun light, many technologies will also be utilised in order to conserve energy including move sensors and photo cells to control lighting and ensure lighting is only used when required, taking account of natural light.

All of this has been possible following the approval by the Welsh Assembly Government to the Business Case put forward by the Local Health Board in late 2009. Fifteen months later and the building will be coming out of the ground and welcoming patients, staff and visitors upon its completion in early 2012.

Apollo Capital Projects are delighted to report that the SA1 Primary Care Resource Centre development has received full planning consent by the City and County of Swansea Council. This 3,300 sqm resource centre will become Swansea”s largest primary care facility and one of the largest in Wales. It is located within the prestigious SA1 development on a prominent position on the primary gateway to the site. The cutting edge design maintains the high quality of the architecture on SA1. Completed schemes on SA1 house occupiers such as the Vehicle Inspectorate, the National Insolvency Service, Tesco, Premier Inn, Village Hotels and Admiral Insurance who have their HQ at SA1. The plan is to develop up to 2,000 new residences at SA1 with a mix of family homes, apartments and retirement flats.

The new centre will become the home of a number of local surgeries, including the Tawe Medical Centre, Port Tennant Surgery and the Eastside Dental Centre. It will also be used by ABM University Health Board and the Swansea University School of Medicine.

(The images above show the Reception Area, the South Elevation ”cut outs” and the Atrium Bridge).

The £7m development was given the backing of the Welsh Assembly Government and Health Minister Edwina Hart in June 2010. The granting of planning permission by the local authority is another significant step leading to commencement on site.

Win Griffiths, ABM”s Chairman said:

“This is a flagship development for Swansea and will offer patients a purpose-built, high quality Primary Care Resource Centre. The support we have received from the Welsh Assembly Government and the City and County of Swansea has been vital in getting this scheme off the ground.”

Chris Jones, ABM”s Swansea Locality Director said:

“I am absolutely delighted that we are now able to go ahead with this exciting project. It will offer a modern state-of-the-art environment for the patients in Port Tennant and St Thomas, and other parts of the east side of Swansea.

In ABM we are redesigning health services to bring more of them closer to the community. There will be services available at this new centre which traditionally patients would have had to go to Morrison or Singleton hospitals to receive. In future, these services will be on their doorstep.”

Rob James, Apollo”s Procurement Director and Project Manager for the scheme said:

“We are delighted to have reached a significant milestone in this exciting project. The mix of user groups is quite unique and it has been a pleasure working with them all to assemble the scheme and reach this point.”

Work is due to start in the summer of 2011 and completed in the autumn of 2012.

An ice breaker might have been more appropriate…

…than a shovel, as the Partners and Practice gather in -10 degree temperatures during “The Big Chill” to formally celebrate commencement of site works on the new Rutland Surgery. Whilst the shovel could only be rested on ground frozen a foot deep, this did not dampen the Practice”s enthusiasm for this long anticipated event!

Following photographs and formalities, the Doctors located their own rooms based upon the foundation layouts and walked the site. John Dryburgh, Apollo Capital Projects Managing Director commented that it was perhaps fitting that two of Glasgow”s most iconic landmarks were visible from the site. The Finnieston Crane, a Clydeside industrial landmark, only slightly predates the Practice”s formation in 1941. The Clyde Arc, Glasgow”s newest bridge (known affectionately as the “squinty bridge” as it spans the Clyde at an angle), on the other hand represents Glasgow”s future as, in its own small way, does the new Rutland Surgery.

The photo above L/R: John Dryburgh, Apollo Capital Projects Managing Director, Janette Harran, Practice Manager, Dr Mary Shields, Dr Robin Dale, Dr Ron Wolfe, Partners at Rutland Surgery.