Galway University Hospital

University Hospital Galway has been one of the leading medical facilities in the west of Ireland for nearly one hundred years.

The hospital initiated a project for major expansion and in early 1998 RKD Architects was appointed to design the scheme. The new development was used to create new circulation patterns and service opportunities throughout the site. It has successfully transformed the overall site both in terms of function and image.

The building was designed to both meet the requirements of a brief for highly serviced treatment and diagnostic facilities while ensuring that it could be constructed on a very constricted site without interfering with the daily routine of the existing hospital. The existing hospital, catering for 600 patients and over 1,800 staff, remained in operation throughout construction with minimum impact on medical services. In order to achieve this the design was organised a 3 phased approach to facilitate the necessary decanting. This necessitated the management of 13 parallel construction sites in the Hospital to co-ordinate the works with the hospital operations.

In additional to a new main entrance and administrative building, the design provides extensive new wards, operating theatres, 3 radiotherapy bunkers, 1 HDR therapy unit, 1 CT simulator and medical offices, separate buildings for remote storage and energy centres together with refurbishment of wards in the existing hospital.

Car parking provision was substantially increased while new traffic patterns and access points were introduced to ease traffic flow and burdens. A new landscape plan for the overall site has been implemented to compliment the new traffic plan and offers a more welcoming entrance for staff, patients, and visitors. The bulk of the project is now complete and in operation and has been completed on programme and within budget.