Managing human health is a growing global challenge.
We are faced with an aging population, chronic diseases, exposure to harmful chemicals, resistant bacteria, and a more connected world where infection can spread faster than ever before. Our response to these challenges includes the development of innovative and adaptive facilities designed to address these ongoing threats to our health and wellbeing.
Our Commitment
Robert Bird Group’s engineering design skills, and commitment to innovative structural responses for Health and Aged Care facilities, is demonstrated through landmark projects such as the Edinburgh Sick Kids Hospital in the United Kingdom, and the Blacktown Hospital Redevelopment Stages 1 and 2, in Sydney, Australia.
RBG Services
Robert Bird Group provides structural, civil, geotechnical (UK) and construction engineering services for the design and delivery of healthcare facilities. These services can be provided for facilities of various scale anywhere around the globe:
- New, expanded and refurbished health facilities
- Acute aged care facilities
- Mental health facilities
- Clinical services buildings
- Emergency centres and intensive care units
- Comprehensive cancer care centres, including radiation bunkers
- Community health facilities
- Specialist health storage facilities such as blood banks
- High-performance structures to support specialist equipment such as MRI machines
- On-grade and multi-storey car parking facilities
- Staged construction logistics for developments within operating hospital campuses
Future Proofing Buildings for Adaptive Re-Use
Our approach to adaptive re-use includes critically assessing future flexibility requirements, and incorporating, at low or no cost, the ability to install additional services, increase floor loadings, and horizontally or vertically expand structures. We are also experts in design for extended structural design life of up to 100 years.
Radiation Bunker Design
Radiation bunker design is a specialist area of expertise, where the structural engineer needs to ensure the bunker design restricts the spread of radiation to within the bunker itself, via a combination of specialist reinforcement design, high-density concrete mixes and, in some cases, steel linings. The resultant bunker structures need to be carefully designed and detailed to ensure they are cost-effective, and buildable.
Robert Bird Group’s has delivered radiation bunker designs for projects across the UK and Australia, and has a specialist team to ensure that the designs are buildable, cost-efficient, and effective when performing their critical task of controlling radiation.
Floor Vibration Dynamics
Health facilities, particularly those housing specialist equipment, often need to meet highly stringent floor vibration criteria, including response factors (Rf) as low as 0.25 for equipment such as MRI machines. Floor vibration control is a specialist skill held by Robert Bird Group. Using in-house developed technology, we are able to inform clients about vibration performance to a very high level of accuracy, and work with clients and contractors to develop high-performing structures that meet tight budget and programme parameters.