502 
Floor space has been freed up at Basildon’s new £60m cardiothoracic centre by the use of ceiling-mounted radiant heating panels.
Chosen for the new centre, which is set to be the hub of a new network of cardiac services across Essex and is housed in a four-storey building at Basildon and Thurrock University Hospital, the panels have been used in the ward areas, offices, meeting rooms, reception areas and corridors.
Supplied by HCP, a division of SAS International, the panels feature range from 600 mm to six metres in length and have been integrated into suspended ceiling systems, with some integrated within plain plasterboard ceilings, throughout all four floors of the centre.
Graham Harris, from the architects firm Nightingale Associates, said the panels offered both a space-saving and hygienic solution. “Our client was keen to ensure that we maximised the use of floor space. Of particular concern was where desks and computers abutted radiators.”
