"We work or have worked with 68% of the hospitals in the Netherlands", says Johan van Baardwijk, Market Director Healthcare of EQUANS Netherlands
As part of the Four Care consortium, EQUANS is involved in the construction of the new main building of the 'intelligent' hospital at Radboudumc University (Radboud universitair medisch centrum - 43,000 m2). The programme includes 20,000 m2 of climatic installations, 3 km of piping for medical gases and 24,650 metres of piping for the cooling circuits. Last year, the TDE consortium (Trebbe, Dura Vermeer and EQUANS) delivered Isala's first all-electric hospital in Meppel (17,690 m2), a highly innovative site which we will maintain for 25 years.
In Belgium, EQUANS and its partners are in charge of installing the electrical and HVAC equipment for one of the largest private hospitals in Wallonia, the Grand Hôpital de Charleroi (156,000 m2, 986 beds, 23 operating theatres, 32 intensive care units). The project was designed using BIM (Building Information Modeling). The lighting will be controlled via the KNX protocol, a system that allows precise control of a building's internal systems, thus saving energy.
"This is a step for us towards intelligent, low-carbon hospitals," explains Marc Goessens, Sales Manager – French speaking side, EQUANS Belux.
In France, the teams at AXIMA (an EQUANS entity) are now starting preliminary studies for the new University Hospital Centre in Nantes. EQUANS won a major part of this contract for the "technical facilities" package at the end of March and will carry out the execution studies and the HVAC and plumbing work as well as the centralised technical management of the new complex.
"This is the largest hospital project in France today," says Alain Tenoux, Director for Building and Complex Works at EQUANS France. EQUANS also won a contract in March with the Nice Hospital (HVAC and plumbing) and its teams are also working on the Rennes International Surgical Centre, the Amiens Hospital and the new Pointe-à-Pitre Hospital.
The COVID crisis slowed down new projects, but now some are coming back to the fore. "During the crisis, hospitals had to cope with the shock. Now they want to renovate of build new sites. We are seeing a lot of new projects planned for the next few years," says Johan van Baardwjik.
Marc Goessens takes a more nuanced view, noting that hospital decision-makers are reluctant: "Some hospitals, eager to cut down on their energy costs, are finding it difficult to balance their investment budgets because of the rising cost of materials and raw materials. A 500,000 € boiler room can cost €20,000 more within a week. " In France, there was the Ségur de la Santé (a massive investment plan in hospitals). A certain number of renovation or expansion projects have come back on the agenda," notes Alain Tenoux, "we have 10 years of work ahead of us.”
