NHS Louisa Jordan Hospital

On 11 March 2020, COVID-19 was classified by the World Health Organisation as a global pandemic. As part of the Scottish Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic a temporary hospital was considered, to be delivered by the Scottish Government in conjunction with NHS National Services Scotland (NHSNSS). The resultant hospital – known as the NHS Louisa Jordan Hospital – is a step-down facility for patients recovering from COVID-19. The priority of 300 beds were made available by mid-April 2020, with a further requirement to provide a total of over 1,000 beds thereafter. The hospital facilities have been planned within the existing Scottish Event Campus buildings in Glasgow. From concept to completion took only 23 days. Whilst its shell existed already, their speedy adaptation offers a persuasive concept of future resilience.The layouts of the existing halls are primarily designed to aid clinical movement and efficiency, but also to aid wayfinding and identification in a wholly introspective environment. Despite the constraints of material availability for construction during the first lockdown period, substantial time and effort went into ensuring that the bays did not feel oppressively institutional. Much of this is down to the spacing, lighting, and graphic design that was utilised in the repurposing of the SEC.The design solution required bed bays, power, drainage, ventilation, and fire systems to be considered for how to be incorporated into the building envelope without leaving lasting damage and ensuring compliance with the NHS legislation. Ultimately the design solution needed to create the feel and delivery of healthcare within a traditional hospital, as noted previously that takes years to construct, but ensure that it was within a structure not built for this purpose with limited timeframe for delivery.Adaptability (the capacity to be modified for a new use or purpose, and the quality of being able to adjust to new conditions) was at the core of our thinking for the NHS Louisa Jordan Hospital. The hospital – one that can be demounted, stored, and then quickly installed elsewhere - offers a resilience to the NHS in Scotland which isn’t bound by fixed location.