caring Communication

Refurbishment of the old Tullamore
Midland Hospital
he original hospital at Midland
Regional Hospital in Tullamore
was designed by architect
T
Michael Scott in the 1930s
(1934-1937). It is a four-storey
building to the right hand side of the
main hospital campus. A new hospital was
constructed on site in 2006/2007 with final
transfer of all services from old to new
taking place in 2009/2010, thus leaving
a substantial building lying vacant on the
hospital campus site.
The Project
Following an accommodation review of
all buildings in Tullamore, Co Offaly used by
HSE in 2011, a number of leasehold buildings
were identified which were occupied by
administration functions and Mental Health
Services dispersed throughout the town. In
order to minimise rental expenditure in the
area a decision was taken to explore the option
of refurbishing the vacant old hospital
building on the MRH site to accommodate
the services in rental properties. This was
in line with HSE vision on using Freehold
property over rental properties. The Scott
building is a protected structure and as such
was also incurring maintenance and running
costs for the HSE on an annual basis of
€195,000 per annum pre 2012, while it was
vacant.
Following this review the Scott Project
Brief was developed and signed off on in
2012, funding was approved and design
team appointed.
Design Team & Contractor
Architect incl PSDP & Fire Safety
Todd Architects. Conservation Architect:
Kenny Lyons Ass. Mechanical & Electrical:
Varming Consulting Engineers. Civil &
Structural Engineers:Punch Consulting
Quantity Surveyors: Tom Mc Namara &
Partners.
Main Contractor:
JJ Rhatigan & Company
PLANNING
Planning for the refurbishment works,
was granted by An Bord Pleanala in August
2013 and construction commenced on site
in March 2014. The build took 22 months,
and the site was handed back by the contractor
to the HSE at the end of January
2016. Many original features within the old
building were retained during construction
works, this included the main solid wood
entrance door, the original radiators were
removed, refurbished and replaced in the
building, the stone façade was cleaned and
repaired where required, it was important
to maintain and enhance the integrity of
the original structure during the works. An
ambitious fit out works programme is currently
ongoing, with the first services due to
move into the newly refurbished building in
February 2016. The footprint of the building
is approx. 6,000 sq mts.
The Services
• Mental Health Day Centre, Day Hospital
and Sector headquarters
• Hospital Administration Accommodation
• Hospital On Call accommodation
• Centre for Education & Library
• Various Administration Departments
• Freedom of Information
• Consumer Affairs
• Health promotion
• National Contracts Office & Advocacy
Services
• Patient Private Property Accounts/ Fair
Deal
• Regional Health Office
• ICT Dept
• Nursing Midwifery Planning Development
Unit
• TUSULA Administration
• Customer Relationship Management
• Internal Audit
The Architect
The Scott Building is called after Michael
Scott (1905-1988), architect, who designed
the hospital on the site in the 1930s.
Michael Scott is considered the most
important and influential architect of the
twentieth century in Ireland. Initially he
wanted to pursue a career as a painter but
his father pointed out that it might make
financial sense to become an architect.
His design of Tullamore Hospital (1934-
37) features traditional limestone masonry,
with very strong horizontal lines broken
glazed rounded stairwells and window
bays that demonstrate a strong Modernist
influence. The main four-storey block
is strongly symmetrical with the exception
of the placement of the main entrance on
an end elevation. The ground floor elevations
are dominated by a range of round
headed windows. The unconventional use of
materials shows Scott’s interest in the use
of materials for decorative purposes. While
the use of cut stone is unusual in his work
the strong lines, symmetrical elevations and
rounded windows and stairwells became a
strong feature of his later work.
He was also very prominent in the arts,
both as artist and print maker and supporter
of the Arts. He brought modern art to many
Irish people for the first time by chairing the
committees which staged the ROSC Exhibitions
in Dublin in 1967, 1971, 1977 and 1980.
These exhibitions put modern art on the
front pages of the newspapers.
Scott went on to have a mural commissioned
for the entrance foyer of his new
hospital. The work was done by Frances
Kelly (Judy Boland) and still hangs in the
same spot today, It has been restored and
protected and will continue to take pride of
place in this iconic building.
spring 2016 | health matters | 41