This is where we are going…
And this is where we have got to so far…
3Ts Redevelopment Overview
The 3Ts Redevelopment is replacing all of the buildings on the front half of the Royal Sussex County Hospital. In their place will be two brand new clinical buildings and a much needed service and logistics yard. The project is also providing a helideck for air ambulances on top of the Thomas Kemp Tower, which is at the heart of the the hospital. From there our most severely inured and unwell patients can be taken directly to A&E via a dedicated lift.
The project is being carried out in three stages. This will ensure that all our clinical service can continue to run on site during construction. We are currently working on Stage 1 and the helideck. You can read more about about both of these aspects of the redevelopment in the updates below.
When the redevelopment is complete it’s new buildings will provide spacious, well resourced, modern facilities for the patients and staff of more than 40 wards and departments. Moreover it will have replaced the oldest acute ward building in the NHS, the Barry Building, which took its first patients in 1828. Stage 1 of the redevelopment will have a Welcome Space that will run the entire length of the building, with ample space for everyone and a high quality retail outlet. It will be accessible from the main road outside the hospital and from the new car park under the building.
The redevelopment is taking the front half of the hospital from the 19th to 21st Century in a decade. We are at an exciting time, there is about a year to go until Stage 1 of the redevelopment is complete. Please do read more below.
Updated 17th January 2022
Stage 1 Building
The Stage 1 Building stands on the south east quarter of the Royal Sussex County Hospital site. It is the first of the two new buildings that the 3Ts Redevelopment will provide.
The outside of the Stage 1 Building is all but complete. All the efforts are now on its internal fit-out. At its busiest times we have more than 500 trades people working across the 13 floors of the new building (11 above ground and 2 in the basement). Due to the range of equipment required across the various departments the internal fit-out is actually the longest phase of construction.
Construction on Stage 1 is due to complete by the end of the year. There will then be a four month commissioning period after which services will start moving into the building. By the summer of 2023 we will be caring for patients in the first of our brand new facilities.
Over the coming months the hoarding around the Stage 1 Building will be replaced with security fencing which will allow us to start work on the pavement area in front of the building. This will give everyone the first real chance to see the building from the ground up, something we are all looking forward to.
Within the next eight weeks construction in certain areas of Stage 1 will complete. These areas will be closed off so they can’t be damaged by works carried out in neighbouring rooms or departments. This is a process that will continue section by section, floor by floor, throughout the year until the whole building is ready for commissioning. There will be plenty of pictures and videos to share as the completion progresses.
Helideck
The helideck has been built on top of the Thomas Kemp Tower in the middle of the hospital site. It will allow the most severely injured and unwell patients to be brought directly to the hospital by air ambulance. Currently it has to land in East Brighton Park and patients are transferred by road ambulance to the hospital.
The structure of the helideck is complete and has been signed off by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Key work is still being carried out on the outside of the Thomas Kemp Tower.
At the same time as this work is happening the deck itself and the support facilities underneath it will be commissioned. Once both these pieces of work are complete the CAA will be asked to approve it for operational use. This process will include a number of trial landings on the deck.
We expect to see the helideck come into use later in 2022.
Stage 1: one of the benchmark ward rooms on level 8. These rooms are used to show the standard of finish that can be expected throughout the building.
Stage 1, looking west along Eastern Road, showing the helideck on top of the Thomas Kemp Tower.