Kākāriki Hospital
Greenlane
Having secured tenancy in a vacant commercial building at 9-15 Marewa Road Greenlane, Kākāriki Private Hospital came to Klein with a vision to create an unprecedented private hospital in New Zealand within an existing commercial base-build shell. The project demanded innovative design and problem solving to accommodate all the scheduled spaces within an existing footprint.
This premium facility includes:
- 4 Operating Theatres
- Recovery stages I, II, and III
- 20 Bed Inpatient ward
- Administration offices and training rooms
- Sterile Services Department (SSD)
- Commercial Kitchen
- Staff amenities
- Pre-Op, Reception, and Discharge lounge
- Consult Rooms
- Inwards goods and loans storage
- Internal and external building services plant and associated outbuildings
A rigorous and comprehensive healthcare planning process took place with the client to establish an efficient workflow for the new hospital with a focus on current good health planning principles. The design is benchmarked against AHFG and best practices from new private healthcare facilities across New Zealand.
The introduction of new patient and services lifts were critical in achieving efficient vertical circulation between various parts of the hospital. The existing base build has two commercial sized lifts which will be utilised for the movement of visitors and staff. A new patient bed lift will be installed to meet the demands of transferring patients in beds (Bariatric included) and large equipment/supplies between floors. Two small passenger lifts will also be installed to facilitate the movement of clean and dirty instruments between levels 2 and 4 (SSD to Operating Theatre).
The existing building was constructed in 2020 with an intended use as private commercial office building. In seeking to upgrade the existing building to a functioning Hospital the major challenges are contending with the tight floor-to-floor heights and complexities of installing new building services for a functional healthcare facility. New building services enclosures and duct runs are introduced internally and externally with modifications to the existing curtain wall.
The fire safety design is undertaken as an Alternative Solution with additional assessments included in the FEB. This is New Zealand’s first of its kind private hospital fitout within the confines of a multistorey commercial building. Our team worked hard with fire engineers to implement a range of innovative fire engineering strategies. This includes lift shaft pressurisation, lift shaft water ingress prevention, smoke curtains, and powered swing doors on all evacuation routes.
The building structure is a 4-storey steel framed tower on a single basement floor. The existing roof is light weight steel and required a significant amount of secondary steel to support the weight of specialist ceiling pendants on the top floor. Internally, new beams are installed to support new floor openings. Externally, outbuildings and services duct runs are supported by new steel frame structures with seismic connection back to the main building.
The interior spaces take inspiration from local landmarks such as the Ellerslie racecourse, Cornwall park gardens, and one tree hill. The design palette is warm and calming with an emphasis on biophilic design through colour and texture. To tie in with the existing curtain wall façade new backpans and wall junctions have been strategically considered room by room to ensure patient privacy is achieved as well as maximising existing views and harmonising with the external appearance of the building.