Residential & Sheltered Housing Projects
St Bernard’s Hospital: Residential Redevelopment
Client: Catalyst Housing Group
DB&P's Services: Building Services Consultant Engineers

An imaginative redevelopment of a Victorian asylum, latterly converted to dreary key-living accommodation for doctors and nurses in the late 1970’s, St Bernard’s Hospital has recently been transformed beyond all recognition to provide 270 residential properties in Ealing, West London.
Catalyst Housing Group purchased the site from West London Mental Health Trust with outline planning permission; the subsequent construction/redevelopment works were phased over a three year period. Comprising 130 properties for out-right sale, 118 shared-ownership and 22 social rent apartments, Catalyst have increased the percentage of local affordable housing by circa 25%.
A centralised energy centre provides a LPHW district heating system serving each of the 5No. residential blocks; subsequent heat interface units installed in each property carefully control the source of secondary heat to suit the individual’s need whilst simultaneously monitoring and recording the amount of energy consumed per property. The combination of central energy centre: local heat interface units enables one to apply a substantial diversity factor to the overall system capacity. In essence, this means that the sizes of the installed boilers, pumps, pipework, etc are significantly reduced.
Extent of Mechanical Services:
- Incoming utilities
- LPHW Heating – Central gas fired condensing boiler plant, with district heating mains serving local heat exchange units in each apartment
- Domestic hot and cold-water services
- Local extract and mixed mode ventilation
- Automatic control systems
Extent of Electrical Services:
- Incoming utilities
- General lighting and emergency lighting
- Electrical small power
- Door entry, CCTV and security systems
- Lightning protection
- Landscape lighting