Client: Bridgend Health Authority
Type of works: Two-storey, 14 bay, 17 room, Rapidplan modular building on hire for two years.

The New Surgery, a general practice premises in Pen Coed, Bridgend, had to be re-housed urgently because the building it had occupied since the 1970s was found to have health problems that included a serious case of dry rot.

The original practice partnership dissolved in 2002, leaving the area health board with the problem of continuing to provide a GP service, with five doctors serving 7,200 patients, from a location that had to be as close to the original surgery site as possible. 

Temporary accommodation came in the form of a brand new 17 room, two-storey modular building, on hire for two years from Wernick Hire Limited. Special considerations for the contract were the urgency of the project, plus security. In addition to a fully integrated intruder alarm, all the windows and doors had to be fitted with shutters or grilles. Also, the interior consulting-room walls were fitted with sound-deadening material to ensure patient confidentiality, and washable floors were laid in some areas.

Delivery and assembly of the new factory-built surgery took just four weeks. Paul Thomas, the practice manager, is delighted with the new building, he says: 'We were spending public money and were very aware that whatever provision we made had to represent good value for money. Wernick Hire won on price and quality. The doctors are delighted with the standard of build, and consider this building to be palatial compared with anything they have worked in before. The term "prefabricated" certainly belies the high standard of build'.