Re-shaping Victorian London for new healthcare clusters
London is home to some outstanding Georgian and Victorian buildings and our historic hospitals such as St Thomas' opposite the Houses of Parliament, are valued as part of the capital's famous landmarks. However, with revolutionary science research taking place, new centres of excellence need to be constructed.
Moorfields Hospital moved in 1822 to purpose built buildings in Lower Moorfields, close to the current Liverpool Street station, where land was cheap and the infirmary was completed for only £5,500. Now the hospital has outgrown its site and needs a new one, where doctors can work alongside scientists. Chief Executive David Probert described why the move is essential at our January forum held at the Apothecaries' Hall in London:
Florence Nightingale was instrumental in helping to design the St Thomas' Hospital site in London, once a place for treating 'incurables'. Now along with buildings at Guys', King's College London has grown an ambition for developing a new science cluster for new med tech and bio-science companies, looking to be part of a collaborative initiative in the capital. Director of Real Estate Development Peter Ward says the new science cluster will develop outstanding research but will also be an economic driver of some significance for London, with a value of some £35 billion and a potential for 55,000 jobs:
Our panel discussions also included Gavin Miller, MICA Architects, who spoke on the complex re-design of the King's College London teaching campus at St Thomas' Hospital, where a new lecture theatre, modern teaching spaces along with terraces for students and staff next to the Thames will be created, while respecting the Victorian heritage.
Willmott Dixon's Cura Lead, Anastasia Chrysafi joined the panel to describe a new and exciting modular solution for flexible and cost-efficient construction of combined health and social care centres - the Cura Project. Anastasia said the designs had been created in response to government policy around 'Construction 2025' and prompted by the NHS policy push to integrate health and social care.
