New Wing opens at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy

The new wing at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, Fife is now open. The 500 bed extension to the existing hospital was delivered by Balfour Beatty for NHS Fife through a Public Private Partnership. The facility contains eleven operating theatres and a new A+E department as well as offering a range of other services including maternity, paediatric, renal and critical care.
 
The geometry and massing of the new hospital relate to the grain of the site, its stepped form mediating between the urban scale of the existing hospital building to the north-west and the suburban scale of the adjoining residential area to the north-east. The design is a medium rise modern variant of the podium and tower format of the existing building. Diagnostic and treatment space is located in an extensive two-storey podium, offering maximum flexibility to accommodate future changes in clinical practice and technology. This podium is subdivided by wide landscaped courtyards, assisting orientation and providing daylight and long views. Wards are accommodated in contrasting straight or wave form elements located in the upper four storeys above the podium, providing a variety of ward sizes to suit NHS Fife’s brief.
 
BDP was architect for the £170m new hospital which will improve healthcare delivery in Fife, focussing on the needs of the patients, in a state-of-the-art facility. White Young Green was structural engineer, and Hulley Kirkwood was building services engineer.