Proton Therapies Treatment Centre Design
Proton Therapies is considered the most advanced form of radiation therapy as it uses high-energy proton beams to irradiate tumours. It is particularly appropriate in situations where conventional radiotherapy using photon beam presents unacceptable risk to patients.
Desco are currently delivering the M&E services design for these highly specialised treatment centres on behalf of Proton Partners International (PPI), which will deliver proton beam cancer treatment therapies.
At the outset, Desco were only engaged to design the M&E services on the Northumberland project. However, due to proving to be highly capable, thorough and dependable PPI engaged with us on further projects and have selected us as their M&E design partner for their future UK projects. This was also the case with the other members of the design team, who have now signed an agreement with PPI as a consortium known as DFJ Designs. This includes Architect JDDK Architects and Structural Engineers Fairhurst.
PPI are currently in the process of building treatment centres to address the growing global demand for innovative cancer care. Currently, they are creating centres in Reading, Northumberland, Liverpool, East Midlands, London and Newport. Desco are providing the M&E services design for the centres in Reading, Northumberland and Liverpool, the feasibility on East Midlands and London and the M&E consultancy role on the Newport project.
The proton centres will provide a range of services using the latest technology in cancer treatment. They include radiotherapy, chemotherapy, imaging (including computed tomography), Positron emission tomography–computed tomography (PET-CT), which has only been available since mid-2017, and proton beam therapy, which will be available this year.
The centres will include reception areas, outpatient consulting rooms, linear accelerator (LINAC), computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), recovery areas and chemotherapy suites. In addition to the specialist high energy proton beam therapy suite, the centres will also offer conventional radiotherapy and chemotherapy and will treat National Health Service patients and private patients.
BIM has been used extensively on the PPI projects, with Desco developing the M&E Revit model to stage 4A in line with BSRIA BG6. In particular, use of Revit for the co-ordination of the M&E service with the proton bunker has proven to be of great advantage to the project and has ensured the design was fully co-ordinated before the start of work on site. Our design model is then passed to the M&E contractor for work stages 4B/4C/5, including the installation model and the as-built drawings.
Project
Proton Therapies Treatment Centre Design
Location
Reading, Northumberland, Liverpool, East Midlands, London and Newport
Value
Various