Mass Vaccination Centres
A rapid-response design and build programme delivering four high-performance vaccination centres at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
| Location | Hampshire & Isle of Wight |
|---|---|
| Sector | Healthcare / Emergency Pandemic Response |
| Cost | Undisclosed |
| Role | Project Management |
the brief
Design and build Hampshire and the Isle of Wight’s four Mass Vaccination Centres — facilities capable of delivering over one million COVID-19 vaccinations during the course of the national programme.
what studio mode did
Studio Mode, acting as in-house project managers, were asked — in the same spirit as the emergency hospital provision — to sit down with the newly forming clinical teams and work out how a vaccination centre should function, given the tight restrictions and parameters of the time. The target was clear: a ‘pod’ model capable of vaccinating 520 people per day, safely and efficiently.
We worked with asset managers and regional colleagues to locate four suitable buildings across the county — including an NHS HQ, an empty former mental health unit, a community centre, and a fire station. Then we got stuck in. Just like before, it was hand-drawn sketches, hand-to-mouth resourcefulness, and working at pace with whichever contractors were available. The country was in lockdown, and the vaccination programme was the key to people’s safety, health and liberty.
Our centres were generally designed around a ‘two pod’ model, targeting 1,040 vaccinations per day. Many outperformed this — the record being 1,520 vaccinations in a single day. The units were widely praised by the public and stood as a testament to what could be achieved when necessity, collaboration and focus align.
anything else?
Plenty. We had to fully understand the patient flow and, crucially, do the maths. 520 people across a 12-hour day (720 minutes) means a jab every 83 seconds — a serious operational challenge. We designed every aspect of the patient journey: arrival, parking, queuing, check-in, vaccination, recovery, and exit — all in accordance with strict social distancing protocols. Even the number and positioning of marshals had to be modelled and defined in advance.
“We are all thrilled it’s been rolled out so fast and efficiently – it’s really impressive.”
— Alan Titchmarsh, after receiving his COVID jab at Basingstoke Fire Station
“Just wanted to say a massive well done and thank you… totally in awe of all the sites and how well they work; how quickly they’ve gone up and the attention to detail. It’s made everyone else’s work so much easier
Doing this on top of the day job is amazing – hope lots of people are recognising it. Your trouble is you are so good at it and keep doing smashing these projects out of the park, so people think it’s normal. I’ve learnt from my day job it isn’t
Hope you get a bit of downtime now.”
any tricky bits?
All of it. No time, four sites in four different corners of the county, and using buildings never designed for this purpose. Special care was needed at the fire station site — our design allowed for one appliance to be brought back indoors overnight to protect its onboard water from freezing. The second appliance had to be kept outside, so we provided heated windscreen covers and coordinated with the local highways team to reprogram the surrounding traffic lights to give it clear egress from site.