Brendan Merry & Partners are delighted to announce the completion of the enabling works at the former Isolation Hospital on infirmary road. The main project which involves the Reconfiguration and Refurbishment of the existing site and building to provide a new community centre is still in the Design Stage and is expected to be submitted for a part VII planning Application in the coming months.

As the Site and Buildings had been unoccupied for a considerable amount of time the buildings had fallen into derelict state and were unsafe to enter, therefore it was essential that an Enabling Works contract was carried out to provide safe access to the Design Team to carry out their Survey works to allow for Design to be progressed.

The Enabling Works contract was successfully carried out by Bracegrade Building and Civil Engineering contractors and involved the removal and safe disposal of burnt and rotten timber roof structures and suspended timber floors, removal of lead-based paint and associated plaster from walls and also asbestos containing materials throughout the site, as well as the removal of overgrown vegetation and provision of temporary propping where required and temporary roof coverings where feasible.

The works have been carried out very thoroughly and all of the Site and Buildings are now safe to access allowing the Design Team to carry out their works and continue with finalising the Design and Planning Application for the building.

The main project involves the Reconfiguration and Refurbishment of the Former Isolation Hospital, a cruciform shaped building of 550sq.m is located on the northern, upper section of the site (c. 3400sq.m). The building stands as an exemplary form of a hospital building type common to control the spread of infectious diseases in the nineteenth century. It is a single storey building set out on two levels, dating from 1840-1880 when it formed part of The Royal Military Hospital. It comprises four detached rectangular buildings, connected by a covered walkway.

The project aims to carry out the repair of the stone boundary wall, gateway, bastion and retaining walls, the Mortuary and Stores, the Former Isolation Hospital all in line with Best Conservation Practice.