We can operate at a scale and speed that most can’t.. With the digital platforms we have developed within the Creative Technologies team at Bryden Wood, we have, and will increase, the ability to be agile, and to design a built environment that is agile too.

Johnston elaborates, commenting on the high level of integration between the structural, MEP, architectural finishes, electrical, data etc… All of this, he says, allowed Bryden Wood ‘to create a high level of prefabricated MEP (building in ease of maintenance and replacement) interfacing with a highly systemised superstructure.’.In addition to these advantages, Maswiken enthuses about how lucky they are at Circle Reading to have their core/prep rooms, as well as the benefit of a layout which enables patients to go out through recovery to the wards, rather than back through the theatres.. Goel also comments on layout efficiency saying, ‘The recovery, the day case ward...is very close by.. Further to this, he and Maswiken have many other positive elements to highlight about the Circle theatres.

The three used predominantly for orthopaedic surgery have laminate floors and special ventilation systems providing ultra clean air, which Goel describes as ‘perfect.’ He also enthuses about how having images of x-rays on the computer system, enables them to be projected onto a television screen on the wall.On a more personal note, he enjoys the ability to put music on.‘Everywhere else, I have to take my own box because they don’t have sound,’ he says, ‘so that’s quite nice.’.

Maswiken also talks about the benefits of the lighting flexibility, with the ability to dim the lights or increase lumination, which he says provides options depending on the type of surgery being conducted.‘Particularly if you’re doing laparoscopic work,’ he says, ‘you might need to dim the light a bit to give the surgeon a better view of the images, so in that way it works very well.’ He also speaks about how lucky he feels to have windows in some of the theatres.

It’s quite an advantage,’ he says, ‘Because, just imagine, I’ve been in theatres all day and it helps at times, just to be able to reconnect a bit with the outside.’.

This theme of bringing a sense of the outside into the internal hospital space is another picked up by multiple staff members.Carbon reduction against baseline.

The path to a sustainable future.. With the growing interest in net zero buildings and sustainable construction, Bryden Wood have developed and implemented their own hierarchy to reduce both operational and embodied carbon.These hierarchies define the roadmap to achieve good and best practice performance targets defined by bodies such as LETI, RIBA or GLA.

An essential part of the hierarchy, and one of the key focuses of Bryden Wood’s design approach is DfMA, which enables substantial embodied carbon reduction and creates synergies to further reduce operational carbon.The implementation of DfMA combined with energy efficiency measures, specification of low carbon materials and carbon offset measures is the proposed pathway to the delivery of successful net zero carbon buildings.. To learn more about our Design to Value approach to design and construction, sign up for our monthly newsletter here:.