The relocation of the Grade II listed chapel at the Royal Sussex County Hospital has won the ecclesiastical category of the Sussex Heritage Awards 2023.
As part of the 3Ts redevelopment programme, the Grade II listed, 19th-century historic church needed to be moved from its original location in the hospital’s Barry Building, as the building was due to be demolished as part of the wider scheme.
The reconstruction and restoration of the chapel took place offsite in a bespoke, three-storey concrete superstructure, with the historic fabric of the chapel being slotted into place at the new site, keeping disruption to a minimum.
The chapel’s stonework, walnut panelling, organ pipes, marble and teak flooring, pews and pulpit were all delicately removed, with stained glass sent off site for conservation and cleaning.
As the chapel now sits in the new building with no access to natural light, a series of light boxes were mounted behind the windows to simulate daylight, programmed to brighten and dim throughout the day.
McBains provided construction supervision, cost management and project management services to the delivery of the Louisa Martindale Building (and relocation of the historic chapel) which represents Stage 1 of a new regional centre for teaching, trauma and tertiary care (3Ts) at The Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.
Stage 1 of the 3Ts redevelopment is the first and largest of the three-stage programme that will take the front half of the hospital from the 19th to 21st century. Stage 1 will have major new facilities for more than 30 wards and departments, new diagnostic and theatre capacity, as well as increased capacity for the departments with high demand, including neurosciences, stroke services and intensive care.
Stage 2 of the re-development is currently in the pre-building (pre-construction services agreement) stage, with McBains leading the consultancy of the planning stages. Stage 2 will remove the existing vacant buildings and construct a new Sussex Cancer Centre, providing 29,000 sq m of clinical and support accommodation, providing far more availability for current and future patients, increasing the number of chemotherapy beds and radiotherapy machines.
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As part of the ongoing 3Ts redevelopment project at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, works have begun to move the hospital’s chapel, which currently resides in the oldest acute ward building in the NHS; dating back to 1828.