Work begins on “greenest” hospital

Work has begun on a £321 million extension to London's famous Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children hailed the greenest hospital redevelopment in the country.


The 30,000sqm Mittal Children’s Medical Centre, designed by UK-based architects Llewelyn Davies Yeang will provide all its own energy, aims to be carbon free and will even generate a 20% green energy surplus to be used in the rest of the site.

Bill McGill, GOSH director of redevelopment, said: “We believe this is as green as it is possible to get for a central London building.

“We have faced up to the challenges of the hospital’s location, got through stringent planning procedures and will be ready to start building this spring.

“The redevelopment design is being used as an example to other developers and our energy assessment is being used by the Greater London Authority as a guide to best practice in London, something we’re very proud to achieve.”

The centre is named after Aditya Mittal and his wife Megha, who gave £15 million to the project. Mr Mittal is the son of steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal.

It will consist of two linked buildings built over two phases and feature new wards, operating theatres, imaging facilities, offices and a restaurant.

It is due for completion by 2016.

The first phase is the eight-storey Morgan Stanley Clinical Building named in honour of the investment bank, which has pledged £10 million towards the project.

It will have a new cardiac unit, theatres, renal and neurological units and feature two tri-generation Combined Cooling, Heating and Power (CCHP) units for energy supply.

They will run on natural gas initially but could eventually operate on biofuel from sustainable sources, it is understood.

It is hoped they will lower hospital carbon emissions by 60% or more.

The building will feature other green technology, including water-efficient toilets and showers, sensor taps, LED lighting, presence detectors to turn of lights in empty rooms and natural ventilation.

Natural paints and materials will be used for internal fittings and the building will reportedly feature a green sedum roof.

The second phase is the refurbishment of the old cardiac wing in the Southwood building, which is due to be completed by 2016.

Overall, the centre should offset some 20,000 tonnes of CO2 annually, it is understood.

The government has given £75 million towards the development with the rest made up of donations, including from the Mittals and Morgan Stanley.

For more details visit the Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Trust website.

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