Launched in February this year, the competition sought teams with the capacity and imagination to design and deliver a ‘world-class facility’ that would provide an outstanding patient experience and working environment. The new building will be the first in a phased development that will ultimately produce an Integrated Cancer Centre, combining first-class clinical care with groundbreaking medical research. Architects and contractors were required to collaborate from day one, and the competition followed a multi-stage process which at the final stage invited teams to come up with design concepts for the new building.
Anshen Allen/Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners/Laing O’Rourke’s winning design is based around the idea of breaking the building down into five three-storey ‘villages’ stacked up on the corner of the site. The judges concluded this to be an intelligent and well-considered design, offering a clear strategy that will allow the building to respond to short, mid- and long-term change.
Speaking of the winning design, RIBA Adviser and Jury Panel member Simon Allford said “This proposal stood out in a very committed competition because of the clarity and strength of its organisational and architectural vision. The delightful idea about villages, breaks down the institutional model for medical facilities, is robust enough to survive stakeholder reviews and promises a building of great style, dignity and humanity”.
The competition allowed teams to engage with the client team, clinical staff, and end users of the building during the design phase. An extensive consultation exercise was held before the final judging session. As well as the ‘village’ idea, a key attraction of the winning scheme was its open and welcoming feel, and consideration of human scale for the user.
Alastair Gourlay, Programme Director for Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, said “The Trust’s aim is to provide a world class clinical service for our cancer patients and this design will make a significant contribution towards achieving that. The designers have shown a depth of understanding of the patient’s experience with an architectural honesty that defines the way the building looks.
I want to congratulate all of the teams that took part in the competition for the quality of their design proposals - they captured the imagination of patients, staff and our local stakeholders who gave us invaluable feedback that helped us to make our decision on the winning scheme”.
Richard Rogers, of Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners said : “We are delighted to be part of a team to design a new cancer treatment centre for one of the UK’s leading hospitals. Our previous work on the Maggie’s Centre in London has helped us to understand the needs of people with cancer. Our approach to the CTC for Guy’s and St Thomas’ goes beyond conventional thinking on hospital design and makes the experience of dealing with cancer as relaxed as possible for both patients and staff”.
Ray O’Rourke, Chairman & Chief Executive of Laing O’Rourke Construction Ltd, said: “As team leaders in this design competition, we assembled a world-class group of professionals to join with us to create a truly inspirational design solution. The uniqueness of our design combined with leading engineering solutions will eliminate waste throughout the delivery process, and provide real long-term value for the Trust”.
Catherine Zeliotis, Director of Anshen & Allen, says “the team worked closely together to give the patient a voice in the design process. We have provided a building experience that responds to the needs of the cancer patient and their families on a challenging journey, and to the staff caring for them.
The other teams on the shortlist were:
Woods Bagot Ltd/ BDP/ Brookfield Construction (UK) Ltd
Make Ltd/ Mace Ltd/ Buro Happold
Allies and Morrison/ Devereux Architects/ Kier Regional Ltd
Hopkins Architects Partnership LLP/ Skanska Construction UK Ltd /
Grimshaw/ Jonathan Bailey Associates/ Bovis Lend Lease
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