The Bristol architects responsible for the much-acclaimed redevelopment of the city’s Southmead Hospital have won another top award – with judges praising the project for its “fantastic approach to health and wellbeing”.
The Bristol studio of global architecture practice BDP’s design of the hospital’s new 800-bed Brunel Building earned it top place the Design Excellence category of the Planning Awards 2020.
The scheme was completed with colleagues from BDP’s Sheffield office for client North Bristol NHS Trust, whose brief was to create the best acute hospital in the UK, with a high-quality, hotel-like experience for patients and an inspiring and supportive workplace for staff.
The Brunel Building has been designed to support the efficient and sustainable delivery of healthcare and includes key worker accommodation, a staff restaurant, day nursery, community art and performance spaces and an improved road network.
Built in two phases, the redeveloped site is intended to enable additional medical or technical accommodation to be added without resulting in patients and staff walking further.
Other features include a glazed concourse roof and large windows in patient bedrooms while public landscaped areas aim to increase patient and staff wellbeing and new cycle routes link it to the local community. 
On completion, the building received a BREEAM “Excellent” certification for sustainability.
The BDP team had already won a string of other awards for its work on the hospital, including the European Healthcare Design Award 2017, the RIBA South West Award 2018 and the RIBA South West Client of the Year for North Bristol NHS Trust 2018.
Nick Fairham, architect director at BDP’s Bristol studio, said: “Delivering a project of this scale and complexity is very much a partnership between client and architect; awards such as this one are testament to the close teamwork achieved on this project.
“The Southmead Hospital redevelopment delivers a world-class 21st-century healthcare facility for the people of Bristol and creates a regional centre of healthcare excellence that responds to the unique character, topography and microclimate of its surroundings.”
BDP provided architectural, landscape, interior and graphic design services alongside site masterplanning for the hospital.
BDP’s South West studio includes a specialist healthcare team who were also responsible for the new Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, and Bristol’s Nightingale Hospital at the UWE Bristol Exhibition and Conference Centre.
Nationally BDP developed designs for most of the Nightingale temporary hospitals in England.
The Planning Awards ceremony was held virtually over two days with a stream each afternoon.
