Opportunity 

The existing West Lincoln Memorial Hospital was a vital community hospital, but its building structure, systems and design had exceeded its lifespan. With the investment in a new hospital, this was a chance to reimagine how care was being delivered to the community and its environmental footprint. Working with Infrastructure Ontario, the design, build, finance structured project’s first step was to hire a Planning, Design and Compliance team.

Response

The team delivered a conceptual design tailored to Grimsby and the needs of its community, while enhancing the urban design with respect to its location on the main street of the town. Setting the requirements of the facility, the solutions balanced how to functionally optimize the health care facility, remaining sensitive to the heritage context of the site, surrounding residential neighbourhoods and unique materiality. With a footprint larger than the existing hospital, an application for minor variances made allowances for greater height on the site, a process that would be continued by the project team, who would also be responsible for the final design. Not hindered by the Pandemic, Stage 1 to Stage 3 submissions to the MOHLTC were completed in record time for the design build finance process.