New Brunel building car park opens to patients and visitors

Patients and visitors at Southmead Hospital can now use the new multi-storey car park.

The new car park is part of the extension to the Brunel building, which was handed over to North Bristol NHS Trust by developers Carillion in July.

Patients and visitors can walk directly into the main hospital atrium from the car park, which opened on Tuesday (August 16).

The second phase of the Brunel also includes a decontamination unit for surgical equipment, offices for the Trust’s Outpatient booking team and a community arts space and additional space for cycle parking.

There is now also more space for buses, after an additional three bus stops were installed outside the Brunel building.

The car park, which is located within the Brunel building extension, has more than 400 spaces for patients and visitors to use.

Additional parking spaces have also opened to the public elsewhere on the hospital site this week.

A total of 170 parking spaces near Central Delivery Suite and off Dorian Way near Gloucester House are now available for patients and visitors.

Changes on the site also mean that there is more parking for staff, with additional spaces having opened behind the Brunel building and the current public Beaufort Way multi-storey car park, being converted for the use of employees.

The opening of the new multi-storey car park will also brings a further 236 cycle spaces for patients and visitors, while the cycle centre that will open to staff in September will provide additional spaces for employees.

Works will continue inside the Brunel building extension over the coming months to make way for the setting up and testing of the new on-site decontamination facilities ahead of its opening In October.

North Bristol NHS Trust Project Manager Martin Warren, said: “We are pleased to have now opened our new car park to patients and visitors and hope it will improve their experience when coming to the hospital.

“We know that delays to this project have caused some frustration over these past months and thank everyone for their patience during this time.

 “The changes to the front of the Brunel building include the addition of extra bus stops, with 35 buses coming onto the hospital site every hour, which will rise to 42 an hour next month.

“As well as opening new spaces, we support our staff and patients to consider the different options available to them to access the hospital, including bus services which come directly on to the site and cycling.”

He added: "We are closely monitoring use of the new car park and welcome feedback from visitors."

The Amigo shop inside the Brunel building will also be extended to create a Marks & Spencer Simply Food outlet, which is due to open by the end of the year.

The popular sculpture of the lion with the sore paw will be joined by further animal sculptures that will be added next year once landscaping works have been completed on-site.