New National Hospital, Montserrat
St John’s / Montserrat
Why we are working on this project
In 1995, a huge volcanic eruption destroyed Montserrat’s capital city, including the brand-new hospital that had just opened.
Since then, the Glendon Hospital has operated out of a former primary school in St John’s. This was intended to be a temporary measure. The hospital uses eight separate buildings, some of which are old and not hurricane-resistant. The management can’t always offer the range of clinical care that they would like.
As an island often cut off by bad weather, Montserrat requires a hospital with a full range of services, unusual for a facility of its size. The Government of Montserrat chose Article 25 to design and deliver a new purpose-built hospital due to our proven expertise in tropical architecture, building where it is challenging to source materials, and designing structures to withstand hurricanes and earthquakes.
This hospital’s unique requirements also made the project suitable for our method of extensive user consultation during the design phase. We spent weeks consulting with the community, government bodies, and every member of staff, from surgeons to cleaners, making sure that the finished hospital will truly meet their needs and preferences.
The design
Article 25 architects designed a new 57,000 sq ft, 25-bed hospital to be located on the site of the existing Glendon Hospital in St John’s, Montserrat. The New National Hospital will have a full range of services under one roof, including A&E, maternity care, two operating theatres, a full diagnostic suite, pharmacy and mortuary. NHS standards will be met throughout.
The design organises the hospital into two accessible double-storey wings connected by a curved veranda. It contains a series of public services at ground floor and administrative services above. The connected wings create a central courtyard that can be used by both hospital staff and patients.
The whole building is designed to be hurricane-resistant and incorporates seismic design in case of earthquakes. The efficient ventilation system will reduce humidity indoors. We included ample storage space for medical supplies, as the island receives these in bulk every few months.
The delivery
It is challenging to get materials to Montserrat as everything must be delivered on a container ship. With this in mind, we have planned to use locally-available materials wherever possible. Article 25 and our engineering partners and cost consultants on this project have extensive experience in building in tropical conditions; the design uses materials that are resilient to this climate and easily available locally or on neighbouring islands.
Construction will begin in 2024 and we will manage the build over the next two years until completion.
PROJECT NAME: New National Hospital
PROJECT LOCATION: St John’s, Montserrat
PROJECT TYPE: Hospital
PROJECT PARTNERS: Government of Montserrat and Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)
ENGINEERING PARTNERS: Clarkebond (Structural + Civils) and Hoare Lea (MEP)
COST CONSULTANT: Rider Levett Bucknall
STATUS: Tender
