CMS Window Systems has delivered an extensive package of aluminium windows, doors and curtain walling for a new 21 million GBP hospice in Glasgow, which its development team has designed to provide palliative care services fit for the 21st century in a homely and respectful environment.
Designed by Ryder Architecture and built by main contractor Balfour Beatty, the new Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice, created in the city’s leafy Bellahouston Park, is the first hospice in the UK to follow the Sengetun model of care, which has “placemaking” at the centre of its approach. Its innovative, state-of-the-art Scandinavian design puts patients and families first, with the provision of space for privacy, dignity and compassionate care for all ages. It is based on research that shows the aesthetic design of a healthcare facility has a measurable impact on patients’ well being.
Importantly, the architecture of the new hospice now allows for palliative care of people as young as 16, which previously was not possible at the former Carlton Place site. The new building houses state-of-the-art facilities that cater especially for young people, including a sensory room and young people’s lounge, and there is spacious accommodation for families to stay over.
The new building’s location in Bellahouston Park helps to ensures all senses contribute to enhancing patient care, including sunlight, warmth and the landscape, which support the functions of the building, and create a feeling of home. For this reason, the design of the windows and doors allows for maximum natural daylighting and uncluttered views, with the brief being for high performance aluminium fenestration throughout.
CMS Window Systems, based near Glasgow at Castlecary and a long term supporter of the hospice’s ‘Brick by Brick’ fundraising campaign, was awarded the circa £0.5m glazing contract in a competitive tender, with the specification built around a combination of Metal Technology systems. It was a project that encompassed around 500m2 of Metal Technology System 17 curtain walling and Metal Technology 5-20 / 7-20 doors. All aluminium profiles, flashings and fixing brackets were finished in RAL 1035 (pearl beige).
Rhona Baillie, chief executive at The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice, said, “The environment can actually improve a patient’s symptoms because if you have anxiety quite often that can heighten a patient’s physical pain. If we can help to control that anxiety and make the patient feel more relaxed, in an environment that they are very comfortable in, then that can help their overall physical state.”
Stephen Anderson, Aluminium Director at CMS Window Systems, added, “The new Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice is a superb new facility that is set to give local people the very best quality of palliative care. After eight years in the planning and construction, it is fantastic to see it come to fruition and to have been part of the project team.”
CMS Window Systems is one of the UK’s leading window, door and curtain walling designers, manufacturers and installers, employing more than 330 people at its manufacturing and recycling sites in Cumbernauld near Glasgow, Kirkcaldy and East Kilbride.
As a major supply chain partner to commercial developers, the education sector, local authorities, housing associations and housebuilders, CMS offers a wide range of aluminium and PVC systems to provide a solution for every kind of new build or refurbishment project, all manufactured in Scotland to the highest standards in the most resource-efficient, sustainable factories.
Find out more at www.cmswindows.com.