St Michael’s Hospice

St. Michael’s Hospice in Hereford is a charitable organisation that offers palliative care in an inpatients and outpatients capacity to the local community, county and beyond.

We delivered an award-winning extension and retrofit to the hospice to provide new patient, support and education facilities – all designed to Passivhaus principles. The first phase involved a timber frame extension providing 20 beds, new art facilities, new reception, therapy suites and guest accommodation leading through to the new in-patient wing.

Phase 2 comprised a £3.4M deep retrofit of the existing 1980’s building, making various alterations to decarbonise and improve its performance. Refurbishment works comprised of general stripping out works, re-insulation of the existing roof, the insertion of dormer windows in the roof space and new metal stud internal partitions. There were extensive M&E installations for the provision of new, incoming utility services for the increased capacity, with a particular focus on energy efficiency and installation of an MHVR system.

The building achieved 1.36 air changes ph, working on a simple environmental strategy focused on high levels of insulation, mechanical ventilation and heat recovery (MHVR), breathing wall technology, optimised daylighting and solar gain to deliver a low energy, comfortable and healthy building.

All works were delivered within a live hospice environment with Speller Metcalfe undertaking a complex phasing plan and working extremely closely with the client to ensure the day-to-day activities of the hospice could remain in place. As a result of such a close, successful working relationship, the main first floor terrace has been named as the Speller Metcalfe Terrace.