ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
The Oak Cancer Centre in Sutton, Surrey. Above: The new six-storey Oak Cancer Centre will sit at the centre of the London Cancer Hub site. Left top: The geometry of the building concept is very simple, and is characterised by a west-facing crescent / concave curve orientated towards and around an existing garden and vale of trees. Left bottom: An elevation concept diagram of the new Oak Cancer Centre.
level. This means that a high proportion of the daily flow of patients and visitors can easily access the building at this entry level, and will not need to move vertically through the building using stairs or lifts. A significant proportion of patients will be very frail and not very mobile. Additional stair / lift cores are provided
for staff / clinical movement at the southern and northern ends of the building. The southern core leads directly to a link corridor connecting to the RMH, providing level access at ground and first floor level. One of the key flows between the existing estate and new OCC is for staff crossing the link and using the southern stair / lift core to move up the building to the staff café / restaurant at level 3. The first floor provides space for
researchers. This is a ‘dry-lab’ space comprised of open plan workstations, break-out spaces, meeting rooms, and some single to six person cellular offices. The researchers were located intentionally at this level, within the heart of the OCC, to ensure that they had a visible and reassuring presence within the building, reinforcing the strong link between patient care and research. A visual link between the research and clinical floors was an important part of the concept to showcase the work that is being done to help treat and cure the cancers which patients are getting treatment for. The buzzing activity of the cutting-edge research that takes place on this level is showcased both inside and outside. The first floor is also connected directly via the link corridor to the RMH.
30 Health Estate Journal January 2023
Infusion bays The 63 medical day care chemotherapy infusion bays are located at level 2, giving them a greater degree of privacy, and are orientated along a sweep towards the western side of the site to benefit from the site’s most positive aspect, with an outlook onto gardens formed of existing and new trees. The crescent of space projects out beyond the accommodation below, so that the patients almost feel like they are within the canopy of the trees. The bays are arranged in groups of three, to correspond with the nursing ratio of one clinician to three patients.
It has been clear throughout the design
process that the theme of personalisation of clinical treatment and care, and also being able to control environments, have been key to the success of these building types. Strong visual connections to nature, and controlled access to external spaces at the Clatterbridge and the Oak Cancer Centres, provide healthy respite and wellbeing while receiving treatment.
Proximity and connectivity Co-location of specialist hospitals, scientific research, and academic centres on the same site are clearly hugely advantageous, and allow improved connectivity. Proximity and connectivity are critical to the Team Science method of working. Medics are working collaboratively with researchers to develop new thinking. While it might be a current buzzword, clinical trials and drug discovery couldn’t run without collaboration, and we are being challenged as designers to create spaces and places that facilitate that.
Chris Oates
Chris Oates, Architect director at BDP, joined the practice in 2014, and became the Design Team leader for the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in 2015, and the Paterson Replacement Project at the Christie hospital in 2018. Prior to joining BDP he had worked on a range of sectors and scale of projects, but he finds the people-focused nature and complexity of healthcare projects the most rewarding. Through these large complex projects, involving multiple stakeholders, he has facilitated collaboration and engagement between all project team members at all stages of the project, reinforcing his belief that this is key to the successful delivery of projects. He embraces the future challenges of having to deliver unique and innovative design solutions for clients, while offering flexibility in use. All this needs to be underpinned by efficient design solutions which are key to meeting sustainable design, BIM, & MMC criteria, and Net Zero carbon targets.
Images courtesy of BDP
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