Old Nurses Home’s recycled life in new hospital

19 April 2010

About 20 tonnes of bricks that were once the walls of the old Narrabri Nurses’ Home are being recycled to form the foundation of the new hospital.

When the Nurses’ Home was demolished in 2008, the bricks were saved for use in the redevelopment of Narrabri District Health Service.

“As part of the Greenstar environmental initiatives involved in the Narrabri District Health Service redevelopment, the bricks are being re-used in the construction of the earth pad,” Health Service Manager Sharon Simpson said.

“This means we are able to re-use these materials on site and reduce the quantity of important material for filling the earth pad, which makes good environmental sense,” she said.

Work has recently started on spreading the old bricks into the fill.

“This is just one of the ways that the project is environmentally sustainable, but it’s also nice to know the old Nurses’ Home will be such a large part of the foundation of the new hospital,” Ms Simpson said.

Another example of materials being reused will include the recovery of large old timbers from the roof and ceilings of the original hospital building.

“These will be carefully removed and kept for the hospital’s use, which will be determined at a future date.”

The construction of the $41.7-million Narrabri District Health Service is on schedule and expected to be completed by early 2012.

The project is a joint partnership between the Commonwealth and NSW Governments.

HNE-2230

Contact: Carisa Green

Phone: 0428 106 183