WWith Healthcare Estates over for another year, we caught up with our attending delegates for their highlights and some insights from the 2025 Healthcare Estates Conference by IHEEM in Manchester.
The Wallace Whittle team had a fantastic two days in Manchester, connecting with industry peers, clients, and collaborators across the healthcare engineering and estates sector.
As always, the event was a brilliant opportunity to discuss the future of healthcare design, sustainability, and innovation and to share how we’re helping shape that future through our ongoing work across the UK.
With insightful keynote sessions focused on net zero delivery, digital innovation, and patient-centered design, IHEEM 2025 once again proved why it’s a must-attend event for healthcare professionals.
Our stand at H16 was a hub of conversation, with our team discussing everything from MEP coordination and ESG strategy to net zero healthcare design, and of course, handing out plenty of our iconic orange socks.
This year’s Healthcare Estates conference theme, “Prevention Is Better Than Cure” resonates with our approach to design. When it comes to building services and sustainable design for healthcare facilities, we aim to deliver end-to-end solutions, acting as both technical advisors and full-service design providers.
We spoke to Paul Cooper, the healthcare lead for Scotland and Northern Ireland, about what’s been the most exciting innovation or trend he’s seen at IHEEM this year.
“One of the most exciting innovations we’ve seen today is the integration of public services with the NHS. Dr. Patel’s session on the Integrated Mortuary Project really highlighted how this approach can be rolled out more widely across the country. We’ve been involved in that project from the very beginning, so it’s been fantastic to see the concept gaining traction, and we’re looking forward to seeing how it develops in future.”
IHEEM also shed light on some of the issues we see within healthcare estates, from a lack of communication across disciplines to a lack of funding. Healthcare Lead for England, Jon Blackhurst, shared the following on the biggest challenge facing healthcare projects right now:
“From an MEP perspective, there’s often a fine balance between funding models and energy efficiency. While there’s a strong drive towards achieving net zero, the available funding structures don’t always align with those ambitions, and that’s where careful design and strategic thinking become essential.”
Sustainability continues to be a central theme in conversations around healthcare estates and design. With the growing drive toward Net Zero Carbon (NZC) and an increased focus on social value, healthcare facilities occupy a unique position, where patient and community experience sit at the heart of every decision. Now more than ever, there’s a need for spaces that are both environmentally responsible and socially meaningful, offering lasting value to the people they serve.
We spoke to Sarah Chipchase, Director of Sustainability, to explore how healthcare facilities can lead the way in demonstrating social value alongside environmental performance.
“Healthcare facilities have a unique opportunity to combine environmental design with community benefits.
By creating spaces that act as genuine community hubs, we can encourage people to come together, access vital services, and connect with their environment. It’s also about embracing opportunities, from renewable energy integration to green spaces that support wellbeing. What’s exciting is that users themselves are driving this change, and that momentum allows us to take the lessons learned in healthcare and apply them across other sectors too.”
We also spoke to ESG Associate, Monika Munzinger about how the NHS can meet the ambitious target of being Net Zero by 2045.
“To meet these goals, it is essential to adopt a holistic approach that integrates ESG into every aspect of its operations, from estates and infrastructure to procurement and clinical services.
Beyond carbon reductions, this transformation involves delivering resilient estates that support improved health outcomes. Introducing efficiencies around maintenance and upgrades now, will ensure that facilities are future-proofed and adaptable to evolving energy systems. Providing green and accessible outdoor spaces, for staff, patients and visitors, will greatly enhance wellbeing. These have the potential to provide additional benefits by prevent other health conditions in future, as well as save the NHS associated costs treating these. Embedding ESG into its core strategy, will enable the NHS to build a healthcare system that is environmentally responsible, socially inclusive, and governed with integrity.”
Throughout the event, our team shared insights from projects such as The New Monklands Replacement Project, Victoria Infirmary, and Peterborough City Hospital, all of which showcase our commitment to delivering low-carbon, patient-focused healthcare environments. You can learn more about our current healthcare projects here.
Thank you to everyone who stopped by our stand and joined us for a chat. It was fantastic to reconnect with familiar faces, meet new peers across the sector, and exchange ideas on how engineering, sustainability, and design continue to evolve within healthcare estates.
As our Director for Manchester & Warrington, Paul Dean, summed up perfectly:
“We had a really enjoyable two days at IHEEM, a combination of inspiring seminars and thought-provoking conversations. Many thanks to industry colleagues and friends who visited our stand and reached out to engage in further discussion and future debate. It’s an exciting time for the healthcare sector, and we look forward to playing an integral part in it.”
The event once again highlighted how collaboration and innovation across disciplines are shaping the future of healthcare delivery, from MEP and sustainability to digital design and patient-centred environments.
