The Montefiore Hospital Brighton, Health Building East Sussex, England, Project, News, Design

The Montefiore Hospital, Brighton & Hove

Health Development in East Sussex – design by IBI Nightingale

1 Mar 2013

The Montefiore Hospital Building

Design: IBI Nightingale, Architects

IBI Nightingale unveils The Montefiore Hospitals

Architect’s give third lease of life to Victorian storehouse

IBI Nightingale has unveiled The Montefiore Hospital, a new private hospital in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex. The £35 million investment has given a former Victorian storehouse its third lease of life, with an elegant extension and refurbishment that provides cutting edge medical facilities.

Designed by Clayton & Black in 1899, No.2 Montefiore Road was a furniture depository built for Hanningtons, a local department store. In 1972 it was bought by the insurance company, Legal & General and converted into offices. When they moved out in 2005, the building was left empty with little prospect of being let without substantial modernisation.

photograph © Richard Chivers

In 2010, when the premises was acquired, Spire Healthcare had the ambition of creating a first rate private hospital with a unique identity. Preceding the work, the building had staggered floor plates (lined with asbestos), steep internal ramps, fixed service cores and dreary decor. Though a complex architectural problem, IBI Nightingale responded with an ambitious remodelling and extension design that utilised progressive construction methods.

The new Montefiore Hospital re-establishes its presence within the streetscape. From the exterior, the building retains its original charm, with a new glazed entrance to draw patients into the foyer. The extension to the rear of the building closely matches the red facing brick and introduces western red cedar cladding and composite aluminium/timber windows with a mixture of light grey spandrels, white translucent and clear glazed units.

Inside, the hospital is spacious and uplifting with interiors that create a welcoming and stress-free environment. Greeted by an airy lobby with a bamboo framed reception, patients are directed through wide corridors to private consultation rooms. On the first floor are 21 stylish en-suite bedrooms, each with distinctive semicircular windows to flood them with natural light. The second floor accommodates three integrated laminar flow operating theatres. A chemotherapy suite is located in the lower ground floor, with access to a landscaped courtyard.

photo © Richard Chivers

The building is designed to attract high calibre staff with features such as an exclusive staff restaurant and a roof terrace for the third floor administration department. Following in the tradition of Victorian follies, there are also plans for a rooftop ‘beached raft’ hospitality area which will frame views over the city towards the sea and the South Downs.

Throughout the design process, IBI Nightingale sought to evoke a serene atmosphere and this has been complemented by two permanent installations by musician and artist Brian Eno. “Creating a healing environment isn’t only about correct surgical procedures and the right technology but also about making an atmosphere where the patients feel able to relax enough to clearly think through their options, and to properly take part in the healing process themselves.”

Mike Rawlinson, Estates & Building Projects Manager at Spire Healthcare said: “In 2010 we were looking for a site in a prime location in the Brighton and Hove area. We found it in the form of 2 Montefiore Road; an iconic building in a prime location but, a former Victorian storehouse.

The impossible challenge was to convert it into a modern, private hospital facility. This involved not only the usual need for interpreting our operational requirements into a design solution, but also making the design work for a Victorian building. IBI Nightingale rose to that challenge maintaining the character and features of the original building and at the same time creating a state-of-the-art hospital with boutique hotel comfort.”

photo © Richard Chivers

Architect, Richard Ager, IBI Nightingale said: “Designing The Montefiore Hospital has been technically demanding, yet incredibly rewarding for all involved. Spire Healthcare gave us a great opportunity, and we’ve enjoyed solving the architectural problems presented in novel and interesting ways. The result is we hope, an inspiring hospital with a unique identity.”

The building is designed to achieve a BREEAM ‘very good’ rating through the specification of Green Guide ‘A’ or ‘A+’ materials and a design which facilitates demand driven services wherever possible using building energy management systems. The comprehensive structural upgrade is also a very flexible design solution capable of accommodating change in the future. The hospital reached practical completion in November 2012 and is now running a full range of services including outpatients, diagnostics, inpatients and day surgery.

The Montefiore Hospital Brighton and Hove Building images / information from IBI Nightingale

IBI Nightingale

Address: The Montefiore Hospital, 2 Montefiore Road, Hove BN3 1RD

Location: 2 Montefiore Road, Hove BN3 1RD, Sussex, England, UK