Following the merger of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation with Barnet and Chase Farm Hospital NHS Trust in 2014, the newly formed organization, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, looked to redevelop Chase Farm Hospital in Enfield, UK. Not only was the review of the whole estate needed, but a new energy center was required to serve both the new hospital and future residential and educational developments. A government funding gap required the Trust to consider funding the healthcare construction project by selling surplus land for residential and educational use.

The design team needed to deliver hospital redevelopment services on a smaller footprint while improving the patient experience and reducing the facility’s overall CO2 emissions. The condensed timeline for the redesign and reopening to the public further complicated the project.

Arcadis provided design services for the award-winning Chase Farm Hospital, a new, five-story acute hospital based in north London. Replying to the challenges of the site, the design team undertook an intense, collaborative redesign process, working alongside key stakeholders to produce an architectural solution that would consolidate services into a single five-story building with highly efficient internal circulation. Not only did the major capital project meet spatial and financial constraints, but it also allowed the Trust to realize funds through the sale of surplus land for residential and educational redevelopment, supporting the local community's infrastructure needs.

The hospital redevelopment was achieved at an unprecedented speed for a scheme this complex and large within the NHS. The project team successfully delivered the Chase Farm Hospital construction within four years, a project that would typically take over ten years to complete. The careful planning of the facility helped drive both clinical and cost efficiencies while maintaining a high-quality design focused on enhancing the patient experience, with a vision to function more like a hotel than a hospital. The final hospital design includes an urgent care center, short-stay and rehabilitation beds, a surgical center with a four-table ‘Barn Operating Theatre’ (one of three in the country), and imaging, diagnostics, endoscopy, and chemotherapy facilities. The overall design also incorporates 40,000 square meters of flexible space for future expansion. In addition, releasing land for residential and educational purposes ensures the hospital is at the center of the community.

The project’s design includes a new state-of-the-art energy center that will provide power, heat, and hot water to the hospital through a highly efficient and low-carbon combined heat and power plant. Operated by EDF Energy, the system will store excess heat generated by the plant that will be redeployed when needed, helping reduce the hospital’s carbon footprint significantly and aligning with the Trust’s sustainability goal.