Victoria Hospital, Fife

The new 500 bed hospital is an extension to the existing Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy. This design approach extends beyond the bounds of the hospital building itself to a comprehensive masterplan for the wider healthcare campus.

The hospital will be a medium rise modern variant of the podium and tower format. Diagnostic and treatment space will be located in an extensive two storey podium, offering maximum flexibility to accommodate future changes in clinical practice and technology. This podium will be subdivided by wide courtyards, assisting orientation and providing daylight and long views.

Wards will be accommodated in contrasting straight or wave form elements located over the podium, providing a variety of ward sizes to suit NHS Fife’s brief. The wards will be linked by glazed bridges to maximise sunlight penetration from the south. Wards will be relatively shallow plan to maximise daylighting and natural ventilation. Cores shared between the wards will provide separate lift connections for patients and staff, clean supplies and waste disposal.

Visitor access to wards will be via lifts, rising from the main entrance to glazed public routes at upper levels, leading to individual ward reception areas. The main entrance canopy and foyer will follow the curve of the wave form wards above, leading people to the visitor lift tower intuitively.