The multidisciplinary Outpatient Surgery Unit at Pitié Salpêtrière University Hospital in Paris has been operational since 3 April 2018, the date on which the first patient was welcomed for treatment. The building was brought into service after only 7 months of construction, during which time the joint teams of the various stakeholders worked tirelessly to get the job done. Overview of a pioneering project.
To fully comprehend the technical feat involved in building the multidisciplinary Outpatient Surgery Unit at Pitié Salpêtrière University Hospital, imagine the surprise of a client who on return from holiday finds the building envelope already in place, when twenty days earlier the site was nothing but a blank canvas. A technical triumph certainly but also, and perhaps most importantly, a human one: located on the largest hospital site in Europe, the project was completed in just seven months after a ten-month design and engineering phase.
Delivery in 7 months and control of reservations – mission completed for both objectives
“A construction project is first and foremost the people involved,” points out Benoît Rochet, Operations Manager of the project. “If one of the parties doesn’t play the game, on-time delivery is likely to slip away very quickly.” “The dynamic established between the various stakeholders was all about partnership. It wasn’t a traditional customer/service provider relationship,” agrees Vincent Taupenot, Health and Medical Director.
And throughout the operation, the stakeholders involved did indeed work hand in hand. “It’s thanks to the teamwork between the client, the project manager (the GA Smart Building teams and firm TLR Architecture) and the technical design office that we managed to deliver the building on time,” continues Benoît Rochet.
While this intelligent approach ensured the handover was on time, it also enabled attainment of the second goal of “0 reservations” set by the GA teams. “Meeting deadlines is one thing, but making sure the customer is satisfied with the quality of the work delivered is quite another,” explains Benoît Rochet. And once again from this point of view, the target aimed for was successfully reached: “The teams were also fully committed to perfect quality of execution,” says Vincent Taupenot.
Process techniques adopted by GA Smart Building to minimise construction nuisance
To produce a result consistent with the high expectations of the Paris hospital authorities (AP-HP), the site was entirely designed with FullBIM, a digital model used to send the factory 3D digital data in real time. GA Smart Building produced all the structural elements in its Rouen factory, these were then transported by truck before being assembled on an occupied construction site. An industrial process pioneered by the Group, off-site construction optimises completion delivery while limiting various forms of nuisance.
Noise and dust were minimised for residents and disturbance of patients in the hospital was kept to an absolute minimum.
Innovation and quality
The multidisciplinary Outpatient Surgery Unit at Pitié Salpêtrière University Hospital has a footprint of 2,000 m² and consists of 5 operating theatres, an 8-bed post-surgery recovery room and a ward area with 14 beds including 5 private cubicles to accommodate short, medium and long stays. Designed for hospitalisation periods of less than 12 hours with no overnight accommodation, what makes the unit really stand out is its innovative design. “The theatres were built in a duplex arrangement because they didn’t have enough space on the ground floor to install the necessary equipment,” explains Vincent Taupenot. German company Getinge Maquet was responsible for the modular layout and integration of the operating theatres. “With their integral walls, the operating theatres benefit from the very best in surgery unit design,” says Vincent Taupenot.
A user-centred building designed to anticipate future medical developments
Thanks to a user-oriented specification from the design phase, the building promotes fluid care pathways so that patients follow a single direction from the time they access the unit to leaving it. “Patients are effectively managed as soon as they arrive,” explains Vincent Taupenot. “They follow a signposted route without meeting anyone else other than their appointed nurse.” Last but not least, the layout of the building is flexible and designed to facilitate future expansion. Operating theatres and waiting rooms can be modified in accordance with the needs of hospital departments. Fluidity, flexibility and modularity were the key concepts of a build whose primary objective is efficient healthcare. While this building is a perfect illustration of the benefits offered by the GA Smart Building approach, it also contributes to the growth of outpatient surgery which already accounts for four out of ten medical interventions in France, is still growing rapidly, and gives a good idea of what future healthcare will look like.
Crédits : Graphix Images / Augusto da Silva
