Kentish Town Health Centre
Kentish Town Health Centre (KTHC) is a new health
building in central London, housing a large GP practice
and a wide range of health facilities. KTHC sets a new
standard for the NHS. The partnership of a local design
champion, Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM)
architects, and Camden & Islington Community
Solutions have delivered a building where design
delivers the integration of services as never before.
The project champion, Dr Roy Macgregor, initiated an
RIBA competition for a building won by AHMM. Dr
Macgregor’s vision was to create a wonderful building
where not only medicine but health and art came
together for the community. Ideas of transparency and
connectivity were embraced by the architects and the
whole team worked collaboratively to create a building
that expresses the new, holistic approach to healthcare.
KTHC creates a bold civic presence that responds
to its environment. Referencing the brick and stucco,
and architectural repetition, scale and forms of the
surrounding housing, the ground floor is articulated as
a brick plinth, with the rendered forms of the upper
floors floating above. Cantilevered rooms at first and
second floor provide substantially larger floorplates
at these levels whilst allowing a small ground floor
footprint and reducing the overall mass of the building.
The building houses a large GP practice, paediatric,
dental services, children’s services, breast screening
and diagnostic imaging, plus supporting office space,
staff facilities, library and meeting rooms. Inspired by
the game Jenga, the very complex inter-relationships
of these uses were rigorously adjusted to create a
very flexible internal space where staff and users feel
connected and part of a whole. Fully accessible ground
and first floors accommodate all public and clinical
space, whilst the second floor is a private space for use
by staff with teaching rooms. Some areas and rooms on
the ground floor have been designed to be used out of
clinic hours so have their own, discrete routes of access
and security.
Circulation and waiting areas visually connect the
different floors and spaces and staff can communicate
by talking from bridges and leaning through
hatches between consulting floors. Generous staff
accommodation, special tea points and break out
areas mean that different staff groups can easily meet
to discuss and liaise about clients to avoid replication
and unnecessary appointments. Also people using the
building have commented on the fact that as they wait
they can see all the different services in action – making
it feel very friendly and lively and unlike most other
large scale health buildings.
Internally, the building has been designed around the
concept of a street – a generous public/private space
that welcomes users and leads them to the reception
at the heart of the building from where all services
are accessed. This double or triple-height space
running through the building is enlivened by bridges,
views, colourful graphics and a bold signage system by
Studio Myerscough that creates a stimulating internal
streetscape whilst providing ease of use for the diverse
needs of the many users. Arts Council funding has been
secured to deliver a programme of art throughout the
building.
The materials and fit-out elements of the building have
been selected to be both robust and highly flexible.
Within all rooms a hanging rail system allows everyone
to customise their space from a wide selection of
fixtures. Interchangeable IPS panels allows the switch
from clinical to counselling use with green, black
and white selected to provide a calming, neutral
environment. Similarly, three modes of lighting can be
selected by the GP or counsellor to best suit the needs
of the patient. Within communal areas a cost-effective
lighting strategy has been designed to reinforce the
linearity and volumetric nature of the spaces.
A number of sustainable features have been
incorporated within the design of the building, including
use of recycled materials and low energy options
wherever possible. The ventilation is a combination of
mechanical and natural, with all rooms having specially-
designed opening windows that can be left open at
night to take advantage of night time cooling. Also the
atrium creates a stack effect within the main street,
drawing fresh air throughout the building assisted by
wind catchers, and temperature-responsive openers
on the rooflights. Grey water harvesting is used for
irrigation and electric car charging points and bike racks
have been provided.
With the landscaping, as many existing trees as possible
were retained including London Planes, Ash, Lime
and a Damson. New landscape elements relate to the
residential scale of gardens and pockets of green in
surrounding streets. A series of small, private gardens
and terraces were carved into the built form with a
more formal, public garden connecting to the main
waiting room at ground floor where a café will also be
located.
Kentish Town Health Centre provides an uplifting,
inspiring environment of high quality for users and
staff delivered through the LIFT procurement process,
setting a new standard for modern health care
provision.Internally, the building has been designed around the
concept of a street – a generous public/private space
that welcomes users and leads them to the reception
at the heart of the building from where all services
are accessed. This double or triple-height space
running through the building is enlivened by bridges,
views, colourful graphics and a bold signage system by
Studio Myerscough that creates a stimulating internal
streetscape whilst providing ease of use for the diverse
needs of the many users. Arts Council funding has been
secured to deliver a programme of art throughout the
building.
The materials and fit-out elements of the building have
been selected to be both robust and highly flexible.
Within all rooms a hanging rail system allows everyone
to customise their space from a wide selection of
fixtures. Interchangeable IPS panels allows the switch
from clinical to counselling use with green, black
and white selected to provide a calming, neutral
environment. Similarly, three modes of lighting can be
selected by the GP or counsellor to best suit the needs
of the patient. Within communal areas a cost-effective
lighting strategy has been designed to reinforce the
linearity and volumetric nature of the spaces.
A number of sustainable features have been
incorporated within the design of the building, including
use of recycled materials and low energy options
wherever possible. The ventilation is a combination of
mechanical and natural, with all rooms having specially-
designed opening windows that can be left open at
night to take advantage of night time cooling. Also the
atrium creates a stack effect within the main street,
drawing fresh air throughout the building assisted by
wind catchers, and temperature-responsive openers
on the rooflights. Grey water harvesting is used for
irrigation and electric car charging points and bike racks
have been provided.
Developer: CICS (Camden Islington Community Solutions)
Tenant: Camden Primary Care Trust, NHS
Sub-Tenant: James Wigg Practice (GP)
Main Contractor: Morgan Ashurst Plc (formerly Bluestone plc)
Architect: Allford Hall Monaghan Morris
Structural Engineer: Elliot Wood Partnerships
Service Engineer: Peter Deer Associates
Graphic Designer: Studio Myerscough
CDM Coordinator: Managing CDM Ltd
Landscape Architect: Jinny Bloom Landscape
Healthcare Consultant: Sonnemann Toon Architects
Fire Consultant: ARUP Fire
Approved Inspector: Guy Shattock Associates Ltd
Acoustic Consultant: Adnitt Acoustics
Planning Consultant: DP9
