Architect and Builder November/December 2015

PROJECT FEATURE LIFE HILTON PRIVATE HOSPITAL HILTON LIFE PRIVATE HOSPITAL Hilton, Kwazulu-Natal CLIENT Life Healthcare ARCHITECT/PRINCIPAL AGENT A3 Architects QUANTITY SURVEYORS Quanto 2000 CIVIL ENGINEER UPM Consulting STRUCTURAL ENGINEER Powell Boswell Associates MECHANICAL & ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS Dihlase Engineers INTERIOR DESIGN Rumour Has It MAIN CONTRACTOR NMC with Norvo Construction in a JV PHOTOGRAPHY Val Adamson; Rumour Has It 50 L ife Healthcare Group, one of South Africa’s largest private hospital operators, recently opened the doors to its newest hospital – Life Hilton Private Hospital based in Hilton, KwaZulu-Natal. The multidisciplinary hospital will enhance Life Healthcare’s patientcare offering in the greater area with five operating theatres and over 40 associated resident specialists. The new hospital is expected to have a major positive impact on the Natal Midlands’ access to quality, private healthcare services, and the effect of high-level expertise found at the new hospital will certainly be felt throughout the KwaZulu-Natal province at large. Design Brief The brief was quite open ended, but formulated essentially by a Department of Health licence granted for the site. The licence dictates the number and mix of beds and operating theatres, which is derived from a demographic analysis of the area. The client ‘s brief to the architect and principal agent, A3 Architects, was for a contemporary and energy efficient hospital. They wanted the hospital to be an iconic building type, with the design differing from established hospital architecture. The hospital was to be exclusive and upmarket, with a combination of en-suite, semi-private and private wards. The current building consists of a 94 bed hospital, plus on-site consulting facility. Phase 2 will consist of an oncology unit, which is due for completion in 2016. Life Hilton

Architect and Builder November/December 2015 | Page 52