Ysbyty Cwm Rhondda

Ysbyty Cwm Rhondda, Llwynypia is a new 108-bed community hospital situated in the heart of the Rhondda Valley. Providing 13,500sq.m new-build clinical accommodation it replaces out-moded and inappropriate facilities. The £23m facility celebrates the reconciliation of a contemporary aesthetic with a contextual response while providing an exemplary healthcare facility for the community.

The iconic valleys terrace, with its robust use of materials and arrangement as a linear form in the landscape has been a major influence on the design. The scheme is conceived as a series of linear, sliding planes, arranged on a north-south orientation. The use of render, masonry and tiled pitch roof is embraced and exploited to ensure an appropriate contextual link while maintaining a contemporary aesthetic.

The clinical brief required the following facilities to be provided: inpatient wards (4 x 27 bed wards, therapies (physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech & language therapy, dietetics), outpatients (podiatry, ENT suite, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, general clinics), x-ray, ante-natal, minor accident centre, primary care centre, support facilities (pharmacy, chapel, mortuary, administration, estates, medical records, energy centre).

The scheme, which scored a NEAT ‘Excellent’ rating, incorporated the use of a biomass boiler as the hospital’s primary heat source, despite budget restraints. Other low-energy design initiatives include a sophisticated Building Management System (BMS), maximization of natural daylight and ventilation and automatic lighting controls are automatic in appropriate locations.