McAvoy off-site building solutions

The first Endoscopy Decontamination Unit for medical equipment in Northern Ireland has been manufactured and installed by McAvoy Off-site Prefabricated Modular Building Solutions.

The first bespoke sterilisation unit for Endoscopy equipment in Northern Ireland, an Endoscopy Decontamination Unit, has been manufactured and installed by McAvoy Off-site Prefabricated Modular Building Solutions at Altnagelvin Area Hospital, Derry, the North West of Ireland’s main acute hospital complex. The new unit was opened by Dame Deirdre Hine, author of a major UK report on new procedures for the decontamination of Endoscopy.

The Project
Hospital authorities at the Altnagelvin Area Hospital required an Endoscopy Decontamination Unit at the Gastroenterology Department. The contract required that the unit be located in a confined courtyard close to the main operating room and to other department facilities.

The Client: Western Health and Social Care Trust

Value: £500,000

McAvoy Solution
McAvoy has a longstanding business relationship with the Altnagelvin Hospital and offered the ideal solution that minimised disruption to the operations of the department. The requirement to provide a building within a confined courtyard between existing buildings meant this project was ideally suited to off-site construction.

McAvoy designers developed a high specification, 150 sqm single-storey building using combined timber and steel construction. This was constructed in prefabricated modules at the company’s Dungannon factory, transported to the Derry site and then craned into place over existing buildings. The new unit, which was also designed to blend in with existing buildings, was then linked to the department and the operating room for the safe transfer of Endoscopy equipment.

The project, delivered on-time and to budget, demonstrates the quality of off-site construction, the capabilities of McAvoy Off-site and the flexibility of prefabricated modular construction in confined spaces.

McAvoy also carried out much of the interior fit-out including the critically important cleanroom. The design also included airtight doors to prevent contamination and the installation of a full air conditioning system. McAvoy Off-site also developed and kitted out the small canteen for staff in the unit.