A PLANNING application for a new £150 million critical treatment hospital for north Hampshire has been submitted.

The hospital will be immersed into the surrounding countryside - a concept based on research evidence which shows the positive health benefits of having access to nature.

The plans include the planting of a new woodland, which will develop over time to form a copse, as well as landscaped courtyards and roof-top gardens.

Departments will be arranged around a series of overlapping tree-filled and colour-coded courtyards, providing landscape views and access to both natural light and natural ventilation.

Stride Treglown submitted the planning application for the purpose built, state-of-the-art hospital that will provide acute hospital services for Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT).

The company released an image showing the design of the hospital, which was created under co-authorship with HASSELL.

Once built, it will centralise services for the most critically ill and ‘at risk’ patients in one place, enabling provision of consultant-delivered care on site 24/7 and intensive care teams around-the-clock.

The hospital will be on a 22-hectare greenfield site on the north side of the A30 near junction 7 of the M3.

An £18.5m cancer centre is also planned for the same site.

The location will allow for rapid emergency access to provide servicesfor those who have suffered life threatening injuries, heart attacks or strokes, or those who require high risk or complex elective surgical procedures.

Daniel Van Luttmeer, divisional director for Stride Treglown and lead designer on the scheme, said: : “We are delighted to have led the design team for this pioneering hospital project, and, combining the trust’s innovative healthcare provision "With the site’s rural location, we have been able to design a hospital that can deliver rapid emergency care to those who need it most, in a location that promotes the positive health benefits of nature, aiding their recovery further.”

The proposals were presented at a public exhibition in February, which attracted around 420 visitors over three days.

The application is expected to be decided in August, and if approved, building work is due to start next year, for the hospital to open at the end of 2018.

Mary Edwards, chief executive of HHFT, said the hospital will make services even safer for the sickest and most at risk and that the model will "lead the way for the NHS".