The science of treatment and the art of care

Cancer Centre at Guy’s Hospital

The new Cancer Centre at Guy’s has been designed to create uplifting, non-institutional healthcare environments which supports the activities within by consolidating cancer treatment in one building and making the experience easier and less stressful for patients.

The Centre is made up of a number of stacked ‘villages’, each with its own distinct identity relating to a particular patient need or clinical function. By breaking down this 13-storey building in this way, the internal environment becomes human-scale and manageable for patients and their families. There are three Villages for treatment—Radiotherapy, Chemotherapy, and Outpatients—together with a Welcome Village at ground level containing communal facilities; and a Private Patients Unit on the upper four floors.

Notably, the new Cancer Centre is the first in the UK to wholly locate its radiotherapy treatment facilities above ground floor level—a key design decision following patient feedback. This decision integrates radiotherapy as part of the normal life of the building and allows both patients and staff to benefit from views and natural light.

Stantec provided healthcare architecture and interior design services to Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust as part of a design team led by Laing O’Rourke and comprising architect Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and engineer Arup. The consultants worked closely with Laing O’Rourke during the design phase to develop fully coordinated Revit models in accordance with the BIM Execution Plan to facilitate Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA). Key components produced by DfMA included “smart walls” and lattice slabs within the interior fit-out packages, installed off-site with integrated service conduits, insulation and pre-cut openings coordinated with all design disciplines and trades. These were manufactured on LOR’s in-house “Explore” manufacturing factory facility, cut and assembled by robotic arms, transported and craned in position on-site simultaneously with super-structure construction. This achieved significant savings in design coordination, off-site controlled quality testing and delivery programme and cost savings.