The Carlisle Healthcare South Hub completed in October 2022 and it is predicted to achieve BREEAM Outstanding. The building itself is incredibly energy efficient and has a renewable energy source onsite. This will result in significantly reduced running costs and carbon emissions associated with the building. They have also prioritised the social sustainability of the building and have been working with the local community to inspire community involvement where possible.
This includes:
– Working with the GP practices to design large artwork prints of iconic landscapes around Carlisle for the waiting rooms.
– Building bird boxes with the local Scout Groups.
– Making wildflower ‘seed bombs’ with local schools.
– Making bat boxes with local schools/Scouts.
– Making bug hotels with the Beavers/Cubs.
The site say……
“The site itself is fairly wild, with a lot of natural native vegetation on the banks surrounding the site. Rather than clearing this to plant a more formal ‘garden’ we would like to encourage the ‘organised chaos!’ of nature and let the site boundaries remain fairly wild, peppered with wildflower seeding and native bulbs.
There are also some areas that are more formally planted:
– A sensory type garden full of scented, pollinator flowers with seating for patients and staff to enjoy.
– A private staff outdoor seating area, screened from the main carpark by a trees and shrubs, adjacent to a bank planted with fruit trees.
– Large sleeper planters in front of the building with inbuilt bench seats. All of these planters will have a more mature Rowan Tree and pollinator friendly ground cover plants. The two planters outside the cafe will have herbs for use in the cafe.
This building is a flagship building for Primary Care and we want it to be a Health Hub that the GPs and local community are proud to use and have been part of.
We are going to organise a ‘planting party’ (if we are lucky enough to secure some trees!) and invite GPs, Scouts, friends, families, architects, contractors and basically anyone that has been or will be involved with the building so they feel they have some ownership and pride for the building. UHDL will sponsor this event and organise with the onsite cafe to provide refreshments for people turning up to help. And then in years to come the users of the building will be able to look with satisfaction at the natural landscape they helped to produce.
We would also like to encourage ongoing involvement such as the Scouts monitoring the use of their bird/bat boxes and potentially incorporate a community vegetable garden in the planters if there is interest in the upkeep.”
The NHS Forest are delighted to have donated 500 trees to this new and inspirational Healthcare Hub.