ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
The new cancer treatment centre was designed to be a light and airy, energy-efficient, and sustainable building, and ‘to put the wellbeing of patients and NHS staff first’.
Merseyside’s main cancer centre has been located at the region’s southern end, on a site with no acute medical and surgical specialties, and that is also some distance away from key research partners. The new hospital in Liverpool is centrally located for people across Cheshire & Merseyside, significantly reducing journey times for the 65 per cent of patients who live north of the Mersey. Sitting in the heart of Liverpool’s thriving Knowledge Quarter – on a site adjacent to Royal Liverpool University Hospital and the University of Liverpool – it also means that the most complex and unwell patients benefit from rapid onsite access to key medical and surgical specialties. This is important, because many people with cancer are also living with other serious health conditions, such as heart, lung, or kidney disease. Bringing cancer experts from the NHS and the University of Liverpool together on the same site will also significantly
enhance opportunities for leading-edge cancer research, including early-phase clinical trials of new treatments. Clatterbridge Cancer Centre – Liverpool will deliver a wide range of highly specialist cancer care, including pioneering chemotherapy, immunotherapy, gene therapy, and radiotherapy. The new hospital has state-of-the-art facilities for diagnostics and imaging, outpatients, day case treatments, bone marrow transplant, a Teenage & Young Adult Unit, clinical therapies, and a wide range of cancer information and support.
Privacy and reduced infection risk The new cancer centre’s 110 fully-single en-suite bedrooms provide inpatients with total privacy, as well as reducing infection risk – especially relevant during the current pandemic, because people with cancer can be at greater risk of becoming extremely unwell from COVID-19. The hospital also has special
isolation facilities for patients whose immune systems mean they are particularly vulnerable to infection.
A ‘people-centred’ approach to design
The building has been specially designed to enhance wellbeing, healing, and recovery, through a close connection to nature, and a sense of light and space, despite its city-centre location. There is a Winter Garden on the lowest floor, adjacent to the Radiotherapy department. The inpatient wards and Chemotherapy suite boast spectacular views across the city, and across to the Wirral peninsula, with outdoor terraces where patients can enjoy fresh air. Artwork further brings the outside in, by using tree and plant motifs on every floor.
Clatterbridge Cancer Centre – Liverpool has now become the main hub in The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust’s extensive network of services across Cheshire and Merseyside, which includes its existing cancer centres in Wirral and Aintree, its clinics in hospitals across the region, and its team of specialist nurses, who treat patients while they are at home or work. The Wirral cancer centre is still the main treatment site for most patients living in Wirral, West Cheshire, and surrounding areas.
Two atria aid intuitive wayfinding, allowing daylight to permeate the plan, penetrating deep into the radiotherapy waiting area at semi-basement level and the main entrance level.
24 Health Estate Journal January 2021
Universal design and accessibility It was crucial that the daunting process of entering a cancer hospital was made as simple and intuitive as possible, designing out anything which may negatively impact on the experience, and ensuring that provision was made for a range of people with diverse needs. The vision was to meet or exceed standards set out in Health Building Notes and Building Regulations, designing a building
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