The Roma Hospital Surgical Building air conditioning upgrade project entailed the complete replacement of the main air conditioning system components whilst maintaining critical medical, surgical and patient care functions throughout the period of site works.

The unreliability and poor performance of the 30-year old air conditioning system was adversely affecting the hospital’s ability to meet its medical and surgical obligations and patient care needs.

The ability to upgrade the air conditioning system within a fully functional hospital environment presented a raft of logistical and health care issues for the hospital, the design and documentation team, and site contractors during the construction works. This required deliberate and careful planning and implementation. Works to the two operating theatres were of such a disruptive nature that the closing of the theatres was necessitated, requiring the establishment of an onsite mobile operating theatre facility to maintain the hospital’s minimum surgical capacity.

The hospital’s regional location further compounded these issues due to the limited availability of building and trade contractors experienced in this type of demanding and involved site works.

In essence the client needed the work to be done when agreed, to the right standard and with known and manageable impacts to the hospital. They also needed the work to be undertaken with minimal impact on hospital staff.

DMA Engineers was engaged as Principal Consultants for the project, with responsibility for the engagement and delivery of all design and documentation functions required including:

• Principal consultant coordination and project steering
• Mechanical engineering
• Electrical engineering
• Hydraulic engineering
• Architectural works
• Structural engineering
• Acoustic engineering
• Quantity Surveying
• Building certification

An experienced DMA team was established to undertake the in-house engineering services of mechanical, electrical and hydraulics engineering, with significant experience in public health work in Queensland. Our in-house engineers were complemented with the engagement of sub-consultants that had close working relationships with DMA and similar familiarity and experience in Queensland Health works, including dwp, Bornhorst and Ward, Rider Levett Bucknall, and Steve Watson and Partners.

The criticality of certainty in what services were provided to each respective area, and coordination with key hospital stakeholders and all sub-consultants, was paramount to the successful delivery of the project.

Close programming and the implementation of staged works entailing substantial decanting and temporary services to wards and patient care areas enabled the facility to maintain core services throughout the site works.

A high level of interaction with key hospital and Queensland Health stakeholders, coupled with detailed coordination and staging of the works, ensured the site works were streamlined and largely hassle-free, keeping the project on program and openly communicated to all involved.

The time and effort spent in the planning and documentation stages of the project meant that both DMA’s team members and more importantly the key hospital and Queensland Health stakeholders had a high level of confidence in how the works were to be implemented, and that risks associated with the works were thoroughly and clearly identified and managed.