Carl Fenton
Architect
Prince Charles Hospital has been caring for communities across Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf and Powys since 1978. Like many hospitals of its generation, it was built with a very different future in mind. Advances in healthcare, higher expectations of patient experience, and the need for more resilient, low-carbon infrastructure meant the hospital needed more than incremental upgrades, it needed a way to be future-proofed without ever pressing pause on care.
That tension is familiar across the NHS estate. How do you modernise critical clinical facilities, increase capacity and improve efficiency, while working within tight sites and keeping a live hospital fully operational? At Prince Charles Hospital, Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) became the catalyst that made the seemingly impossible, possible.
Designing around reality, not theory
The brief was ambitious. Key departments including Diagnostics, Therapies, Dental and Theatres needed upgrading and expansion to improve surgical capacity, sterility and patient care. Yet the existing plant infrastructure simply couldn’t support these improvements, and the site offered very little room to grow.
Closing wards or decanting services off site wasn’t an option. The hospital needed to continue doing what it does best, caring for people, throughout the works. That reality shaped every design decision we made.
Rather than seeing the constraints as blockers, we treated them as drivers for innovation. The result was a bold but practical intervention: a new external steel lattice frame, constructed around the existing building, designed specifically to support new rooftop plant rooms.
MMC, the enabler
This external frame effectively created a new layer of infrastructure without disturbing the hospital below. Using a coordinated kit of parts approach, the rooftop plant rooms could be manufactured, assembled and installed with minimal disruption. This is where MMC really came into its own, not as an abstract concept, but as a delivery tool that protected patients, staff and services.
Early engagement with the supply chain was critical. By coordinating components from the outset, we reduced on-site activity, shortened installation times and avoided unnecessary interfaces in an already complex live environment. Construction could progress above, while daily hospital life continued uninterrupted below.
The impact was transformative. The new plant intervention didn’t just support upgraded departments, it made the hospital viable again. With modern services in place, the existing building could be refurbished, reused and re-imagined as a series of bright, airy and genuinely healing spaces.
As Jeremy Hollifield, Responsible Officer for Prince Charles Hospital Construction Programme at Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board, powerfully put it:
“The development at Prince Charles Hospital has had a significant effect. The patient has been first and foremost throughout the project, and the sense of wellbeing when you step into this modern healing environment, carefully crafted within the existing façade, has a dramatic impact on the patient’s experience.”
Flexibility that delivers long-term value
MMC thinking extended beyond the rooftop. During construction, Portakabins were installed to temporarily house the Multi-Disciplinary Training Unit. Their success was such that they have since become a permanent home, freeing up valuable internal space and creating new opportunities for future redevelopment.
This kind of flexibility is often overlooked, but it’s vital. Hospitals are constantly evolving, and designing in adaptability ensures today’s solutions don’t become tomorrow’s problems.
Sustainability through reuse and performance
Reusing and upgrading the existing hospital structure delivered a significantly lower embodied carbon footprint than a new-build solution. Combined with energy-efficient systems, the redevelopment has reduced energy consumption by 20%, cutting carbon emissions by around 150 tons every year and saving the NHS approximately £50,000 annually.
Crucially, this was achieved without compromising design quality or patient experience. Sustainability wasn’t treated as an add-on, it was embedded in the design strategy from day one.
Collaboration that makes it work
Projects like this don’t succeed in isolation. The close collaboration between HLM Architects and Tilbury Douglas was fundamental to navigating the technical, operational and human challenges of a live hospital environment. A 93% client satisfaction score speaks volumes, but more importantly, the hospital now has a secure, resilient future.
A model for the future healthcare estate
The Prince Charles Hospital redevelopment shows what’s possible when MMC is used intelligently and empathetically. By focusing on patients first, embracing innovation, and working with not against existing buildings, we’ve helped deliver a renewed healthcare estate that supports clinical excellence and community wellbeing.
For me, the real success of this project is that most patients will never notice the complexity behind it. They’ll simply experience a hospital that feels calmer, brighter and better equipped to care for them and that’s exactly how it should be.
