Multiple Awards for New Northern Ireland Health & Care Centre

Banbridge Health and Care Centre and the Linenbridge Day Centre have won the Royal Society of Ulster Architecture award for best public building over £3m and The Royal British Institute of Architecture (RIBA) Regional and National award.

Commissioned by the Southern Health and Social Care Trust and completed in November, 2015, the Banbridge Health and Day Centre has been developed on the site of the former Banbridge Hospital adjacent to the existing Trust Polyclinic and GP Services.

The new £12.6m centre replaced three existing facilities– the Health Centre at Scarva Street, Banbridge Social Education Centre for adults with a learning disability and Copperfields which provides day care to adults with a physical disability.

The building was officially opened on 25th January 2016.

This multi-purpose centre combines a range of health services to cater for the community of Banbridge and the surrounding areas. From adult day care and community outpatient departments to therapy services for children, young people and mental health patients, the centre will be an important addition to the district’s current healthcare provision.

Close collaboration between our Structural, Civil, Fire Engineers and Environmental teams with the architectural team of Kennedy FitzGerald and Avanti ensured that the projects challenging technical and operational requirements were fully identified and understood. The result is a striking new building, optimised to meet the architectural and clients demands for modern healthcare provision. Banbridge CCTC is an exemplar healthcare building that continues to collect awards, not just in Northern Ireland and the UK, but has been highly commended at the first European Healthcare Design Awards last month.

Congratulating staff on this prestigious architectural recognition, Francis Rice, Chief Executive (Interim) for the Southern Health and Social Care Trust said: “Development of community services is key priority for the Southern Trust and since it opened in January, people of the Banbridge area are really benefitting from being able to access a range of services in a more accessible ‘one-stop’ environment.

“Our staff have always been totally dedicated to delivering the best possible care and we are delighted to now also be able to offer the highest standard of facilities. We are very proud of our new centre which took years of planning and hard work to realise, so are absolutely delighted that all of the commitment of staff, architects, engineers and contractors has been recognised and to know that the people of Banbridge have one of the best health centres in the UK.”

Current Awards

• RSUA Award 2016 – Best Public Building over £3M
• RIBA NI Regional Award 2016
• RIBA National Award 2016 (now on the long list for the Sterling Prize)
• RIAI Irish Architecture Awards Health Winner 2016
• European Healthcare Design Awards 2016 – Highly Commended
• Banbridge CTCC is the second Health Centre to be delivered by RPS as part of a framework agreement with the Southern Health and Social Care Trust and builds on RPS expertise in the healthcare sector.