Sandwell Superhospital

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council has given Outline Planning Approval to a new £380 million hospital for Birmingham and the Black Country, replacing the ageing and unsuitable wards at City Hospital and West Bromwich's Sandwell Hospital; Plan for £380m hospital go-ahead , Smethwick Hospital big step closer to reality.



The new hospital will have 723 beds and is planned to open in 2015 after Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust have secured a loan for the PFI project and have purchased the 6.76 hectare plot and gained Overall Business Case approval from the Government.

The site reproduced from http://www.towards2010swb.nhs.uk/documents/Revisedboundaryslides-Jan08.pdf

The site boundaries adjoin London Street to the north, Cranford Street to the east, Grove Street to the south and Grove Lane to the west. The Cape Arm Canal (linked to the Birmingham canal) forms the north eastern boundary to the site. Part of the Cape Arm Canal falls with the Smethwick Summit Conservation Area. The end of the Cape Arm canal falls within the application boundary but this part is excluded from the Conservation Area designation and is stagnant and overgrown. Currently the site has a number of separate ownerships, being a variety of industrial and storage units with associated offices and car parking, none of which is in the ownership of the NHS. More than half of the industrial and commercial land within the site is of poor quality or vacantlderelict. Industrial users include, BG Plating, which had a licence for hazard substances, however this licence has now been revoked.
The site is surrounded by a mix of uses being residential to the west of Grove Lane, the new Cape Brewery residential development to the immediate south with Cape Hill retail centre being 0.5 km from the site. To the north of Cranford Street, there is further industrial development and to the east the green space, Molliett's Park under the control of Birmingham City Council.

Planning Statement from Planning Application DC/08/49418

The new hospital is planned to be eight storeys high and would have around 700 beds, providing for approximately 107,000 in patient and 120,000 out-patient appointments each year. The main entrance would be off Grove Lane.

http://www.towards2010swb.nhs.uk/PressreleaseJan08.htm

The following images of the new hospital are from the planning application: DC/08/49418

View North towards Main Entrance


View South from Grove Lane towards Blue Light Emergency Centre Entrance


View South from Terraced Woodland towards Level 1 Atrium Entry

The new acute hospital will be situated within the centre of the site with a total floor space of approximately 90,000 sq metres with the footprint measuring 155 metres (W) and 160 metres (L) with a maximum height of 41 metres equating to 8 storeys in height. The building itself would be a split block with a central atrium feature which leads into a public square with various hospital functions serving the site. Undercroft parking for visitors and patients would be provided owing to
the changes in levels across the site leading to ground level where registration and treatments for outpatients occur with wards above. The proposed access to the public car park would be off Grove Lane opposite Unett Street.

Planning Statement from Planning Application DC/08/49418





The education, research and administrative centre.

The administrative building will be located to the southern tip of the site providing a gateway feature to the hospital site and landmark building at the primary frontage of Dudley Road and Grove Lane with a total floor area of approximately 8,200 sqm. The building proposes a footprint measuring 36 metres (W) 95 metres (L) and 25 metres in height. Pavilion style options have been illustrated with substantial glazed areas in a curved shape. A surface car park would be situated
adjacent to the building.

Planning Statement from Planning Application DC/08/49418