The new Bon Secours Hospital is part of a mixed-use masterplan in Ballysimon, Co. Limerick, which will include a school, hotel, and office accommodation. It is located on a gateway site on a main arterial road off the M7 Dublin motorway, and the building
has been designed to face the Ballysimon Roundabout with a gentle arc.
Bon Secours Health System CLG is Ireland’s largest private hospital operator, and the completed 96-bed hospital now addresses a significant gap in medical services in this region.
HOK collaborated with Reddy Architecture + Urbanism and delivered Architecture, Medical Planning, and Interior Design on the project.
The architectural expression is represented by a sweeping curve which gives the building a unique and distinctive silhouette. The building is divided into two distinct volumes, separated by a series of external courtyards and linked by glazed bridges.
The statement curved block accommodates the welcoming concourse, outpatients, day-case and inpatient bedrooms. This form of the ground and first floor is expressed by a two-storey fully glazed window system which anchors the base of the building to the ground plane. The inpatient wards on the second and third floors float above this in a welcoming arc with panoramic views for patients and visitors across the landscape.
These are clad with vertical terracotta fins to shade from the low angle of the rising morning sun. The hospital has also been designed to allow future expansion to 100 inpatient beds across four wards. The sweeping canopy at the front entrance provides cover for patients and visitors and extends to shield them from the elements when walking from the bus stop.
The second block accommodates the diagnostic, treatment and surgical areas and is designed for efficiency of use with direct
connections to the departments it supports. The building is integrated into the landscape with a restaurant opening onto and
views from the chapel to a healing garden. The patient roof garden accessible from inpatient floors supports patient recovery. A
calming interior concept complements the design and is true to the values of Bon Secours.
The clinical design has been developed holistically with the architecture and is based on the idea of Portals of Care. This
supports person-centred patient pathways, providing clear information and routes for the patient care journey. Person-centered
care encourages active collaboration and shared decision making between patients, family and care providers. This concept
is underpinned by project-specific patient pathways and best practice clinical design.
Key sustainability principles that guided the design include natural daylight, natural ventilation of non-clinical spaces, a high- performance envelope, and strategically positioned plant spaces above high-use areas to reduce the amount of service ductwork.