Project: Redevelopment of Glan Clwyd Hospital in North Wales

Background

Plans were approved in 2011 to remodel one of North Wales’s biggest hospitals, Glan Clwyd Hospital, in Bodelwyddan.

The refurbishment project was given the go-ahead by Health minister Lesley Griffiths and involved the careful removal of dangerous asbestos from the shell of the building.

The decision to tackle the asbestos problem signalled the green light to carry out a wide-scale refurbishment of the hospital, which was originally built in 1979 at a cost of £12m.

Project

The project’s focus was to strip out the asbestos – which was commonly used as a fire retardant 40 years ago – and, at the same time, give areas within the hospital a much-needed revamp.

As part of the work, plans were agreed to develop a new emergency quarter at the hospital, with the creation of six new patient wards, a mortuary and pathology unit, and an extension to the current accident and emergency department.

Eleven new theatres, two theatre-recovery areas, a state-of-the-art critical care unit and a new day-of-surgery arrivals area have also been installed. Renal patients also benefitted during the final phase of the Glan Clwyd Hospital’s redevelopment thanks to three newly-refurbished wards, which now feature on-site dialysis facilities.

BetweenGlassBlinds

A total of 150 BetweenGlassBlinds magnetic, tilt and lift units, complete with magnetic operation on both sides were supplied to Pen-Y-Bryn Joinery for the project at the North Wales hospital.

Operated via a neat and unobtrusive sliding magnetic block around the perimeter of the unit, this completely cordless system from BGB is ideal in hospital environments.

The integrated blinds are maintenance-free – making them a perfect product to use in medical facilities like a hospital, as they meet the requirements for clinical infection control. These integrated blinds allow the user full control of privacy.

So, how do they work? The BetweenGlassBlinds units are sealed between two panes of glass with specialist magnetic controls. They are operated using neat and unobtrusive sliding magnetic blocks which are located around the perimeter of the unit. These controls allow the operator to tilt the blinds in one slick and easy motion.

Aron Juckes-Hughes, contracts manager at Pen-Y-Bryn Joinery Ltd, based in Denbighshire, says: “We have been heavily involved in the hospital refurbishment and I’ve spent an incredible amount of time there.

When we became involved with the project, it was specified that BetweenGlassBlinds would supply the units to the Glan Clwyd Hospital, which is North Wales’ biggest hospital.

“As part of the massive refurbishment, several new wards were created at the hospital and a huge number of BGB blinds were fitted throughout.

“The project is almost complete, and I can say that the hospital looks really impressive. It has been an enormous undertaking, but I am proud to have been involved.”