Dealing with a Pandemic: Converting UWE Exhibition Hall into Nightingale Hospital

Converting UWE Exhibition Hall

Guest: Richard Kimber, Head of Facilities Technologies, Estates & Facilities, University of the West of England

We sat down to talk to Richard about how he is assisting the British Army and National Health Service (NHS) who are responsible for the conversion of the UWE Exhibition space into a temporary “Nightingale” hospital.

To make sure things go smoothly, Richard is using Preventative Maintenance to keep all parties involved up-to-date on their Planned Maintenance responsibilities. As building owners, UWE already knew what had been previously scheduled for maintenance using Archibus. But the software is also being used to generate Planned Maintenance for the building the NHS are now occupying. In addition, maintenance that was able to be deferred to a later date, was easily rescheduled and essential maintenance is being done as regularly scheduled.

The majority of the Academic areas are currently shutdown but other areas are now being utilized to help deal with the crisis. They Building Operations module has helped them keep areas operational, like laboratories to provide disinfectant to the healthcare industry, manufacture labs to make PPE, and student accommodation to house healthcare workers.

All of this work has made the team realize they need to review their entire estate to ensure all buildings are properly maintained.