Engineering Acute and General Hospitals - WSP

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Acute care facilities and general hospitals are on the frontline of public healthcare – providing essential and often lifesaving services to a growing number of patients as people live longer and urban populations rise. With such a diverse and complex range of patients, conditions and emergencies to treat under one roof, these facilities need rapid access to specialist medical resources and staff, adaptable spaces to meet evolving healthcare demands, and robust infection control.

Our experienced healthcare engineers, consultants and advisors collaborate closely with our clients to provide the best possible facilities. We’ve helped to deliver some of the most advanced hospitals in the world, including some of the most energy and resource efficient.

"The wellbeing of patients and staff is always at the heart of our designs."

Kevin Cassidy
Global Healthcare Lead

What makes a world-class general hospital?

Corner Brook Acute Care Hospital, Canada

Clean, safe environments

From planning easily navigable facilities that consider the whole patient journey, to engineering systems that help to reduce hospital-acquired infections, our multidisciplinary teams go into meticulous detail to support staff and protect patients. We integrate infection prevention and control into our designs from the start, creating floor layouts, building services and ventilation systems that prevent cross-contamination and reduce airborne pathogens.

Positive experiences

We talk to patients and staff and draw on the latest healthcare research to create supportive environments focused on recovery and wellbeing, from making the most of healing natural light, fresh air and green spaces, to providing quiet spaces where patients can spend time with their loved ones. For example, we’ve designed hospitals with specially adapted gardens for the critically ill, giving even the most vulnerable patients access to the healing benefits of nature.

Roha Advances Multi-Speciality Hospital, Ethiopia

Solluntuna Hospital, Sweden

Efficiency and performance

As specialists in sustainable hospital design, we create cost-effective facilities that are efficient to operate and maintain, exploring every possible way to minimize their lifetime environmental impact. From reusing and adapting existing buildings to retain embodied carbon, to creating building systems for 24/7/365 operation that minimize energy and water use with sustainable new technologies for heating and cooling.

Future ready facilities

Medical research and technological advances are continuously pushing the boundaries of healthcare. Drawing on best practices from around the world, we work closely with our clients to create healthcare facilities and building systems with longevity built in. For example, flexible spaces ready to deliver the most advanced treatments available and adapt fast to different needs, as well as climate-resilient buildings designed to cope with rising temperatures and higher rainfall.