COVID19 related supply chain issues will see a staged approach to the completion of the first stage of Kaweka Hospital.

Project manager Nick Ward says construction completion date was due 16 May but 11th-hour Covid supply chain issues has delayed the building handover date, which will now be staged from mid May through to late July. “Our issues relate to key mechanical services components coming mostly from Europe – held up with factories which have been closed due to Covid, huge demand for specialist hospital materials and components across Europe, and international shipping being in disarray.

Nick says the best approach is now to stage the hand over enabling Kaweka Hospital to progress with the installation of a vast amount of fixtures, fittings and equipment to the completed zones of the building to minimise the impact on opening.

Nick says all trades, led by Gemco Construction are busy on site including external site works, HVAC, medical gases, electrical, data, security, painting, ceilings, floor & wall coverings, joinery, external canopy, and car park lighting. The big (1.5 mVA) Unison Transformer was livened up in late March and is connected to the Main Switchboard, powering both Stage 1 and 2 buildings. The back-up emergency diesel Generator Set is on site and is being commissioned, this provides Essential Power to all of Stage 1 and 50% of Stage 2. Over and above this is 6 tonnes of UPS battery packs in the Stage 1 plant floor to provide 120 minutes of power supply (if all else fails), enabling Kaweka to complete any operating procedures in progress.

Also the bulk liquid oxygen (LOX) vessel platform and enclosure is being prepared for instal in early May. It has a capacity of 5,500 litres of cryogenic liquid oxygen, stored at less than minus -183 degrees Celsius – and this provides around 5 million litres of oxygen in gaseous form to the Stage 1 & 2 buildings

STAGE 2 also underway

Meanwhile Stage 2 including 7400m2 of ward, imaging, specialist spaces is now underway with Gemco starting construction in early February 2022, following demolition of the Recreational Services building.

The bulk earthworks was completed in March, ahead of programme and all off-site works commenced in February 2022 including ordering of reinforcing steel, and preparation of workshop drawings for reinforcing and structural steel. Structural steel was pre-ordered to secure steel supplies and mitigate cost increases.

The Geotechnical engineers have confirmed good ground conditions for construction of the building which will start in early April, with carpenters on the excavated platform preparing grids, profiles, and bases for hefty reinforced concrete ground beams.

Specialist Base Isolator components made up of  approx 70 tonnes of lead rubber & rubber bearings and slider components are due to arrive, from Nevada USA, towards the end of April. The base isolator will act as shock absorbers in an earthquake allowing the ground to move independently of the building. This is the same technology that is used at Te Papa and the Beehive.

The Stage 2A Structural works will take about 13 months to complete, and will be overlapped with the Stage 2B package of Base Build envelope works which is about to be put out for building consent and tender in April 2022. A further stage of internal fitout works will follow for consent and tender in late 2022.

The new Stage 2, three-story building will feature the Rolls Royce of seismic design and earthquake proofing – using “base isolation” technology, which is a first for buildings in Hawke’s Bay.

The technology enables the facility to remain fully functional following a large seismic event, providing assurance to Kaweka Health and the wider community in a time when it may be needed.

The steel framed superstructure sits atop a combination of 48 flat sliders, lead and rubber bearings. The base isolator components have been manufactured in Nevada, USA. These are now being shipped to land at the Port of Napier by early March 2022.

The isolators reduce the building shaking by absorbing a large amount of the motion and energy resulting from a major earthquake. The isolators sit under the base of the building within a specially formed undercroft. In a severe earthquake the isolators can move up to 700mm, and this also requires a ‘rattle-space’ moat surrounding the building so that it can move independently of the ground.

From an early stage, Kotahi Engineering Studio worked alongside Kaweka to understand what their expectations were around building functionality, resilience, and repair post-earthquake. The Canterbury earthquakes demonstrated the need for building design to consider more than just loss of life and building collapse.

The facility can continue to operate when it might otherwise take months or years to repair/replace in the absence of base isolation.

The Stage 1 building also has earthquake design and proofing technology that enables the building to function after a seismic event. The 3,000 m2 surgical building is less than 5 months from completion of construction. There’s been over 80+ workers on site every day with the building envelope fully closed in and secure and we’re now into the intensive phase of complex building services and interior fitout.

Four prominent Hawke’s Bay landscapes feature in the interior design of the Kaweka Hospital.

The Kaweka Ranges, Te Mata Peak, Mount Kahuranaki and the Ruahine Ranges are the inspiration for the operating theatre imagery – symbolising how the stunning mountain ranges encircle our region, embracing the land and sea.

This evokes the aspirations of Kaweka Hospital to protect and care for patients under its professional care.

Tracey Thompson-Gray is part of the architectural design team at HDT that designed the building and its interior.

Tracey said the overall design influence is the Kaweka Ranges and its natural attributes – the strength of the mountain ranges, the protective canopy of the forest and openness of the Heretaunga Plains have created a new health campus set in landscaped surroundings to create a welcoming and restful environment.

The prominent feature of the building exterior is the use of red bricks with a stylised relief pattern of the Kaweka ranges creating texture on the façade. The solidity of the brick wraps into the reception area symbolising the strength of the mountain ranges.

“As this is a private hospital we want the patients to arrive and feel like they can relax and have confidence that they’re in the safe hands of highly capable medical professionals.

“We want to create a quiet, calming and relaxing environment for the patient in the reception and recovery areas. We are using materials with a feeling of warmth and nature; timber panelling and neutral fabrics with splashes of colour. Further inside the facility, whilst still focussing on the clinical aspects such as hygiene and durability we have introduced colour to enhance the working environments.

“We are using colours and materials that are not fashion colours but will stand the test of time”

Tracey adds that as well as a positive and caring atmosphere for patients, there also needs to be considerations for staff, especially when it comes to break time.

“The staff lounge is a respite area for staff and it needs to enable the team to feel as if they are away from the intensive work areas within the facility. The subtle warm white grey of the walls and the textures of the fabrics help make the space feel less clinical and more inviting to take a break in.

Kaweka Health has gone to one of New Zealand’s leading Health Planner’s Ruth Whitehead to ensure the delivery of a state of the art facility.

The role of the health planner is to provide support to project team of a new facility or enhancing an existing facility.

A health planner does this by ensuring there is a focus on optimising opportunities to improve the patient experience throughout the design process from the earliest stages through to project commissioning and operation.

Ruth has a background in nursing, trained in the UK and worked internationally before settling in New Zealand in 1997. She has a special interest in the effects of a health facility environment has on both the patients and personnel.

Ruth’s professional background and familiarity with healthcare is utilised and combined with architects and the wider design team to ensures that the client’s brief is heard, understood and interpreted correctly.

The healthcare planner provides support to enable service redesign and clinical planning through user group facilitation which ensures that the design development process reflects best practice, improves the patient journey whilst meeting strategic imperatives.

“I work as the translator between architecture and end-users’ to ensure and that the patient requirements are met by the project design.

She says the design starting point is understanding what services are to be delivered from the facility, how they’re going to be delivered and then wrapping a building around this to facilitate the model of care.

Projects range from new designs, to complete refurbishments and simple alterations and clients include District Health Boards (DHBs), private providers, construction companies, architects and project managers. Recent projects include Wellingtons Children’s Hospital a and a private hospital in Pukekohe in Auckland.
In designing the Kaweka elective surgery facility Ruth and architects HDT have used the Kaweka Ranges to inspire the shape of the building as well as in the internal features.

“The Kaweka Ranges have been the inspiration behind the facility, and we have used the geography to create a healing place for the community. The local geography is known and understood and by using this we are creating an environment and atmosphere that is familiar, welcoming, makes people feel comfortable and safe as they embark on a journey of improved wellbeing.”

A major construction milestone of completing the roof, commonly known as a ‘roof shout’ has been celebrated by the 20 plus trade and consultant firms on the project as well as a wide range of key stakeholders.

Project Manager Nick Ward of PML said it was great to have all the major structural steel work and the roof complete ahead of winter.

“As well as the 20 consultant firms working on the project team at varying levels of input, the core project team ‘the Tight Five’ is constantly at the coal face throughout the projects lifecycle. This consists of the project managers, architects, clinical designers, structural engineers, and building services engineers.

“We’ve had some good traction on site with many motivated by the vision of creating a fantastic elective surgery facility that provides greater access to medical care.

All the companies involved recognise that this is not just about undertaking another large construction project, but about helping to improve healthcare services in Hawke’s Bay – so everybody on the team is invested in the process and motivated for delivering up a world-class facility.

“This is surgical building construction which is at the top end of building complexity and therefore is a significant investment.

Nick says completion of the building and site works is on track for the targeted date of 31 March 2022

“Fortunately we have pre-ordered and purchased most of the big plant and equipment and key materials in bulk to keep ahead of price rises and supply shortages.

“We are buying NZ-made wherever possible to avoid shipping issues and we are navigating our way through what is a very volatile construction market right now.

The Kaweka Ranges have a strong influence on the architectural design of the new medical facility.

Architecture HDT director Shaun Thompson-Gray was provided with a simple design brief for the external look of the facility by Kaweka Health’s managing director Colin Hutchison.

“Colin had a vision to establish a world class medical facility that will benefit all the people in the greater Hawke’s Bay region.

“We looked at natural landscapes and when you look out west you see the Kaweka Ranges rising high above and cradling the region and protecting it from the elements. This was our inspiration!’’

Shaun adds that hospitals can be daunting places that are renowned for lacking positive energy and sterile looking but that’s not the case with Kaweka Health.

“We’ve designed a health campus in a natural landscape setting to create a welcoming and restful environment. There’s a large glass entrance foyer that will capture the warm sun and the colour palette will be balanced with natural colours on the outside with more vibrant colours inside.

Shaun says the internal design, led by New Zealand’s leading clinical health planner, Ruth Whitehead, has been well thought out and is based on a patients journey from arriving in the foyer, undergoing surgery and recovery.

Architecture HDT, based in Napier, has been involved in the development of many health facilities including the Hastings Health Centre, which was also project managed by PML and built by Gemco.

We are very pleased with the progress of our Stage 1 build. The steel framing is up and our building is taking shape! This video gives a fantastic birds eye view – a rare perspective to a complex project.