This is when the crits force you to step out of your own 'bubble' and explain your thought processes and ideas to others.

But also a place of catering, deliveries, laundry and car parking..It must be as efficient as possible, and house some of the most advanced technology in the world, and yet feel human and welcoming.

And whatever else it is today, we know that it may need to be something very different – although we don’t know what – in just a few months’ time..The opportunity within healthcare design and build is to address all of these competing value drivers successfully.This is the essence of our core approach – design to value.. Our overarching aim is to deliver a beautiful building which achieves excellence in clinical outcomes, patient safety and user experience, savings in cost and carbon, precision in budget and timescales, and flexibility to allow for future developments, planned and not.. A holistic approach to healthcare.

Every project starts with a brief, of course.A clear brief allows for the design to be checked continuously as it evolves.

Our approach to developing a brief is to place it firmly in the context of being a part of the process which ends with a fully functioning hospital.

The brief cannot – or should not – exist in splendid isolation.This can be achieved via measures to reduce the use or the carbon of individual materials, the implementation of energy efficiency measures, the use of on-site renewables and finally a combination of carbon offset schemes and green Power Purchase Agreements (PPA)..

It should be noted, that for most new developments nowadays it is not feasible to become net zero within the possibilities of the design (energy and material efficiency measures), so the use of carbon offset schemes and PPA is essential.. Why should we focus on sustainable construction and net zero carbon?.The UK has established ambitious targets to reduce carbon by 2050.

The UK aspires to reduce total carbon emissions by 78% by 2035, compared to 2020 levels, and become net zero carbon by 2050.These ambitions, translated to the built environment, can only be achieved via the implementation of measures to reduce operational and embodied carbon of new buildings, upgrading existing buildings, the use of ambitious policies and crucially via a decarbonised grid..