by 
David Ross is an architect and author and this is his story.
“I was lead architect for the NHS Louisa Jordan Hospital at the SEC Glasgow. Although our office was closed and our team were working from home, for the first three weeks of that I was on site most days with the NHS, design and contractor’s teams. As well as designing and delivering a 1000 bed fully functioning hospital in 23 days, we had to adapt immediately to a team of people all working remotely from each other for the first time.
The attached image sums the project up pretty well. I’m the one on the left of the photograph and I also wrote the words.”
Below are the words written on completion of the NHS Louisa Jordan Hospital and featured in the photo above:
“The days and nights that have passed since we became involved in this unique and unusual project have been simultaneously exhausting, challenging, inspiring, and enthralling. We’ve witnessed an industry that talks a lot about the importance of team working – of multi-discipline and contractor collaboration – put that into immediate, unquestioning and trusting practice. Every cog and spoke of the wheel operating in sync to ensure it keeps turning and rolling towards its goal: the provision of a fully operational hospital capable of caring for over 1000 patients created from scratch in less than three weeks.
Although we are hugely proud to have watched initial scribbles composed on sketch pads and i-pads turn into physical manifestations almost overnight, this has only been possible as a result of the dedication and commitment of every person involved. From the fantastic SEC staff making their facilities and resources available to everyone at all times of the day, to those of the design and construction industry who gave their time and expertise selflessly. But perhaps most notable is the NHS staff themselves. Their adaptability and resilience leaves us in constant awe.
Everyone involved in this remarkable project dearly hopes that it will not be needed, and that the measures already put in place by the Government ensure that our existing NHS personnel and our existing hospitals aren’t stretched beyond capacity. But if it is required, the NHS Louisa Jordan Hospital will be primed and ready; its patients being cared for by some of the most exceptional people we’ve come across.
The NHS Louisa Jordan Hospital Design and Delivery Team
19th April 2020”
