Great Ormond Street’s redevelopment to set "new benchmark for green design"

Construction has just begun on the 30,000 square metre redevelopment, which aims to be carbon free. Designed by UK-based architectural practice Llewelyn Davies Yeang (LDY), it will produce all its own energy on site and supply 20 per cent of the energy used in other parts of the hospital.

The new centre consists of two linked buildings to be developed in two phases. The first phase will be the construction of the Morgan Stanley Clinical Building that will feature many energy-saving technologies, including combined cooling, heating and power (CCP) units designed to achieve significant reductions in carbon emissions.

A glazed facade will make the most of natural sunlight, while natural-daylight-presence detectors and LED lighting will further help reduce energy consumption.

A glazed natural ventilation flue will extend the full height of the building, providing natural ventilation to the ground-floor restaurant. The bedrooms will also be naturally ventilated.

Other aspects of the building’s green design include a sedum plant roof, as well as sensor taps, efficient toilets, showers and appliances. Natural paints and linoleum, and low VOC (volatile organic compounds) materials have been selected for most of the interior finishes, while all timber will be Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified from sustainable managed sources.

Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust (GOSH) has set the new centre the target of a 120 per cent carbon reduction and a renewable energy contribution of at least 60 per cent by 2016, when the second phase of the project is due for completion.

GOSH says it is already well on its way to achieving this. The Centre has been assessed by NEAT (NHS Environmental Assessment Tool), the old health sector equivalent of BREEAM (Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method), as ‘excellent’. This is based on it offsetting more than 20,000 tonnes of CO2 a year – the equivalent to the annual carbon footprint of 2,000 people living in the UK.

Dr Ken Yeang, design director at LDY said:“We have designed the building in line with the client’s desire for a deep green sustainable development. The scheme’s estimated BREEAM figures are impressive in setting a new benchmark for sustainable design in the healthcare sector.”

GOSH says its commitment to sustainable design is underpinned by its collaboration with LDY, an architectural practice renowned globally for its signature, ‘deep green’ approach.