Concluding our series on city’s new £842m South Glasgow Hospital Campus...

The New South Glasgow Hospitals Campus, the city’s showpiece healthcare accommodation service, will be a world away from what people are used to.

Having agreed to spend £842 million on the campus, NHS chiefs are now to spend an extra £25m on four car parks, and these exclusive pictures show the first to be constructed.

It is hoped the new facilities could herald the end of parking problems that have blighted the Southern General Hospital for years.

Staff and unions say the introduction of a maximum four-hour time limit caused chaos at the hospital and the surrounding area with staff and visitors clogging up residential areas.

The designers of the new car park were aware the building would be one of the first to be used by patients and visitors arriving by car and wanted to make it modern in keeping with the rest of the campus.

Glasgow-based Hypostyle Architects said they wanted to create a “wow” factor with users liking what they saw.

To that end external cladding is provided by giant pieces of Siberian larch which came from a forest in Scotland and buff coloured sandstones brought by the wagon-load from a quarry in Swinton, Berwickshire.

Stainless steel mesh panels have also been incorporated in the design and public access to the four-storey building is by lift or stairs.

The car parks will offer a total of 3500 spaces with the four multi-storey facilities offering between 400 and 1200 bays and additional ground-level parking.

A spokesman for Hypostyle said: “The multi-storey car park is the first of four units to be built on the new site.

“The building is fashioned in natural larch timber screening and natural sandstone walling, materials intended to engender a reassuring and comforting human response in the user.

“The car parks will in many instances be the first point of contact for patients and visitors using the new hospital and it is considered important that this experience be as positive and welcoming as possible.”

The car park can accommodate around 700 vehicles and provision has also been made for disabled parking spaces. It took almost a year to construct, cost £5.6m and is the first new building to be erected along the new spine road

It sits on the site of the Southern General’s old boiler house and associated buildings including its giant chimney.

Robert Calderwood, chief executive of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said: “The construction of the new South Glasgow Hospital will see us complete a programme of investment of more than £2 billion in modern healthcare accommodation across acute and mental health facilities.

“Taken together, these major strides forward, with the new South Glasgow Hospital at the centre, we will have the tools for the delivery of sustainable, high-quality, cost-effective healthcare for NHSGGC residents.”

A spokeswoman for NHSGGC said: “We are absolutely delighted that the first of four brand new multi-storey car parks on the Southern Campus is now open.

“The highly stylish and modern design of the car park was specifically chosen to complement the overall iconic design of the wider £842m super-hospital campus, the most ambitious hospital building programme in the history of the NHS in Scotland.

“With the first stage of this flagship NHS project – the new £ 75million state-of-the-art laboratory – already completed on time and below budget, Govan’s skyline is already changing.”

She added: “With the rest of the building programme on track for completion on or below budget and on time in 2015, there is a palpable sense of growing excitement that the ultimate gold-standard of healthcare, with acute adult, paediatric and maternity services located together for the first time in Glasgow, is fast becoming a reality.”

New health services will be fit for the 21st century

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon cut the first sod of the £842 million New South Glasgow Hospitals Campus on March 16 last year.

Since then, the Govan MSP has made regular visits to the site to monitor progress on the groundbreaking project.

She said: “The new Southern General is an ambitious project – a ‘super-hospital’ with world-class technology and purpose-built facilities to deliver health services fit for the 21st century.

“Despite a harsh winter, construction has managed to stay on schedule with the award-winning Laboratory and Facilities taking shape and enabling works for construction of the Adults’ and Children’s Hospitals also now beginning.

“It is testimony to the hard work and meticulous planning of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde that this important project remains on time and under budget.

“Local communities are already benefiting from the campus, with schools getting involved and the apprenticeship scheme providing vital development opportunities.

“This is set to continue and once the newbuild is complete and operational in 2015, the hospitals will provide top-quality, efficient, world-standard healthcare for residents and beyond.

“This is Scotland’s biggest hospital-building project and the £842m budget is entirely publicly funded.

“This major investment shows that, despite the significant cuts to Scotland’s capital budget, the Scottish Government is continuing to prioritise spending on our NHS to improve patient care.

“NHS Scotland will continue to build on its successes: the shortest waiting times, the lowest rates of hospital infections and improving patient safety.”