Works commenced on new charity-funded Hospice in Norfolk

Works for a new £12.5M charity-funded hospice in Norfolk have started onsite following the appointment of Morgan Sindall Construction as Main Contractor.

Situated on an eight-acre site adjacent to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, the new Priscilla Bacon Lodge will replace the existing facility at the Colman Hospital site, which opened in 1979 and is no longer large enough to deliver the specialist palliative and end-of-life care required in Norfolk and Waveney.

Designed by LSI, the new state-of-the-art hospice building will have the capacity for 24 inpatient beds, offering day care facilities alongside a wellness centre and physio gym. The new facilities will also have the space to host a community hub to provide ‘virtual ward’ care for people being cared in their own homes.

The hospice has been designed to be as non-clinical as possible, feeling like a ‘home away from home.’ Plans are in place for the building to resemble a typical Norfolk barn with red brickwork and extensive use of timber, all within a beautiful, landscaped setting.

Once built the new hospice aims to be a centre in Norfolk for education and research into palliative care, and will collaborate with the University of East Anglia and Norwich Research Park.

The hospice has its own significance within LSI’s portfolio, being the practice’s first all-electric healthcare building. Upon completion, the site will be entirely fossil fuel free.

Associate Louise Knights said: “We look forward to this important project coming to fruition, the care the team provide at the current lodge is second to none and the new building will provide all the space and facilities they need to expand the service they provide for many years to come.”

The new Priscilla Bacon Lodge will welcome its first patients in the summer of 2023.