UHWI gets nod to build 500-bed facility
The Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) has given the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) the go-ahead to build a six-storey medical facility that will accommodate 500 beds.
The building application from the UHWI to erect the facility on Sir John Golding Road, was approved at the May 3 Building and Town Planning Committee meeting of the KSAMC.The building, which will have 21 basement-level parking spaces, will also be equipped with water storage tanks for fire and potable water purposes.Other features of the building will be a “mechanical farm” and solar power plant.The building application also has a proposal for three new parking areas comprising a total of 197 parking bays.One of the general conditions of the KSAMC approval is for environmentally sustainable design practices to be incorporated in the construction of the building. These will include energy conservation, use of renewable energy, water reuse, rainwater harvesting and recycling — the collection and use of rainwater for irrigating the landscaped areas.Also being encouraged is the use of construction materials and techniques to eliminate or reduce urban heat. Examples of such techniques are vegetative roofing, reflective roofs and the use of grasscrete.All harvested water for potable use at the facility must be treated to the “minimum drinking water standards via filtration and the addition of bleach” as prescribed by the Ministry of Health.Measures to facilitate ease of access by disabled people are to be provided at the facility.One of the conditions of the KSAMC approval states that: “A minimum of five per cent of the total parking spaces along with sanitary and other facilities, for example, ramps and grip rails, are to be provided for the disabled. These facilities shall be clearly identified on the plan, which shall be submitted to the KSAMC and subsequently labelled on site.”The building will also have special bathroom facilities for disabled and challenged people, and the doors must also be made wide enough to accommodate them.— Claudienne Edwards
