Welcoming Community Diagnostic Centre completes
Construction has completed on our Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) in Hereford, designed with a patient-focused approach to provide a reassuring environment for imaging and testing.
Designed by Architype and Medical Architecture for Wye Valley NHS Trust, and constructed by Speller Metcalfe, the centre is part of a national initiative to boost NHS diagnostic capacity by providing CDCs in local communities close to people’s homes.
Located adjacent to a well-connected retail park, and open 12 hours a day, the facility is easily accessible and convenient for local residents. This enables routine diagnostics to take place away from the local county hospital in a welcoming and non-clinical environment.
The welcoming main entrance and waiting space on the ground floor.
A sub-waiting space for consultation rooms on the first floor.
A less clinical and more patient focused environment
The building’s internal spaces have been designed to meet the specific technical, and safety requirements of a modern diagnostic facility, whilst also supporting a positive patient experience.
The double-height entrance and waiting foyer welcomes visitors into a central space that acts as an internal landmark akin to a town square, supporting straightforward and intuitive navigation through the building. A bespoke interior design and wayfinding strategy employs distinctive colours and graphic iconography to identify different space types. This approach improves legibility and accessibility for a broad range of users.
By removing unnecessary visual clutter the interior spaces become more familiar, and less institutional in their character.
The opening of the new community diagnostic centre is a significant milestone for healthcare in Herefordshire and marks a major step forward in bringing healthcare closer to where people live and work.
Large feature windows in the main waiting space provide natural light and controlled ventilation.
Visibility of circulation and waiting spaces on both floors aids orientation.
The building's wayfinding strategy adopts colour and iconography for straightforward identification.
A great place for staff to work
The clinical spaces vary from highly-tailored specialist facilities, to more flexible spaces which can accommodate a wide range of more generic clinical activities in a highly cost-effective manner. Careful attention has been paid to their design, ensuring that they support ergonomic working conditions, as well as patient comfort and dignity. Dedicated changing facilities are provided alongside the imaging rooms, providing convenient access and maintaining privacy.
Consulting rooms are provided on the first floor alongside the staff welfare facilities where generous views and natural daylight promote wellbeing.
There’s no doubt that the new centre will lead to improved patient experience and outcomes and will contribute to shorter waits for people from Herefordshire and beyond.
The building's large and bright staff rest space.
The building accommodates a range of services from blood testing to diagnostic imaging including X-ray, CT, and MRI (pictured).
The calming ambience and friendly environment of the building is proving hugely popular with our patients and our staff members are enjoying the modern facilities and latest diagnostic equipment – an added attraction for colleagues at the Trust.
A distinctive building sustainability designed
Externally, a black standing-seam metal cladding provides a contemporary interpretation of the local industrial context, whilst creating a distinct identity which aids navigation to the site. As visitors approach, softer timber details become apparent within the outside canopy. Vertical timber cladding elements frame the main entrance providing a clear destination.
The BREEAM Excellent building is underpinned by Passivhaus principles to reduce energy demand, lower operational costs and provide a comfortable internal environment. This includes employing a fabric first approach which prioritises thermally efficient walls, floors and roof, with robust detailing and airtightness.
Embodied carbon has been minimised using a prefabricated structural timber frame combined with precast concrete floor plates, reducing material use and construction waste. The building’s orientation and glazing strategy are carefully designed to optimise daylight and views while minimising overheating, glare and heat gain through controlled façade design and passive shading.
The collaborative efforts of our NHS client, the contractor, and the whole design team, has created a sustainable healthcare facility which will reduce running costs, provide a great place for staff to work, and significantly improve the patient experience.
Some of the key sustainability features of the building envelope. Image courtesy of Architype.
The building has been designed to enable straightforward reconfiguration or expansion over time.