University of Sunderland - Cadaveric Facility (Architects) - AWARD

Architects Brief

The University are in the process of assembling a professional team to deliver a new build Cadaveric Anatomy Facility at the Sciences Complex, City Campus in Sunderland. The project has an ambitious programme anticipating the design / procurement period to be completed by September this year with an anticipated construction period starting January 2021 and completion in July of the same year.

The project brief is currently at RIBA Stage 1, which anticipates a single storey building with a link connection to the Dale building. The faculty have provided plans in the form of sketch layouts, setting out scheduled requirements all of which equate to a facility catering for maximum 120 students with an external footprint of approx. 350 - 400m?. At this stage this information is confidential and will remain sensitive until such a time that we can enter into discussions with the local authority.

To provide an insight into such a facility a cadaveric anatomy facility requires dedicated and separate areas for technical elements, teaching and administrative function. The facility will be licenced by the Human Tissue Authority (HTA) to carry out Anatomical Examination (code C of the Human Tissue Act) and staff at the facility will be held accountable to the HTA for the storage and use of human material for educational purposes, as stipulated by the HTA Licence.

On receipt of the donor into the Anatomy and Clinical Skills Facility, the donor and their families should be assured that the deceased body and /or retained body parts will be treated with the respect and dignity befitting of the dead. Preservation of Donor Dignity must underpin all activities carried out under the HTA Licence for Anatomical Examination and this principle must therefore underpin the design of the facility. The facility and routinely inspected by the HTA.

The design for a cadaveric anatomy facility must include the following considerations in each area:

Technical elements o There must be a discrete, covered and secure loading bay area for the entrance and exit of donors into/from the facility by an appointed funeral director. o Appropriate preparation rooms for embalming and dissection are required; category 2 laboratory classification (flooring with coving, adequate and adjustable ventilation (20 - 50 air changes / hour, minimum = 20) and temperature control for the room. o Storage area for donors including a bank of fridges with cloud based temperature monitoring for the room and the fridges. o Consideration could be given to make a small preparation area spark proof for plastination of human tissue (e.g. motor housing for extraction unit must be 5m from the ventilation site); incorporating these elements into design at this stage is desirable since retro-fit is expensive and often not possible. o Within the facility, donor preparation areas must be secure and access routes to teaching areas should als...