Spire Manchester Hospital
Project Summary
Spire Healthcare is a leading private hospital group.
Their flagship hospital in Didsbury, South Manchester, includes outpatient and inpatient facilities, six operating theatres, intensive therapy unit and hydrotherapy facilities. There is also a hybrid theatre and 150-seat education centre contained within the development.
The hospital was built as the first phase of a wider redevelopment programme to create a science and technology–led business campus. The site, which is at the junction of two busy main roads, will also include new offices and homes.
Spire Healthcare has received a number of awards for their environmental policy and as such detailed acoustic input for BR
Services Provided
Sandy Brown was commissioned to provide acoustic advice on the proposed development of the Spire Manchester Hospital. Within the acoustic design, aspects considered were:
- the existing noise climate in the vicinity of the development
- compliance with local authority guidelines for noise emission from the hospital, particularly in relation to plant equipment
- performance of the building envelope and including design advice in relation controlling noise ingress
- acoustic issues in relation to internal sound insulation, internal noise levels and reverberation time
- design advice on acoustic finishes
- attainment of acoustic credits under BREEAM for healthcare building.
Special Acoustic Features
The hospital is within a residential area and one of the key challenges presented was to ensure that noise egress from a considerable amount of building services plant was attenuated in line with strict local authority requirements.
Another critical aspect of the design related to the control of environmental noise ingress from the highly trafficked roads which bound the site. This was particularly important to inpatient rooms which line the facades overlooking them.
Internally, our design input was provided to ensure that the sound insulation between spaces, background noise levels and sound absorbent finishes met the requirements of Health Technical Memorandum 08-01: Acoustics and BREEAM.
