Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, UCL, and Moorfields Eye Charity, have announced that AECOM, Penoyre & Prasad, and White Arkitekter, have been appointed to design their proposed new centre for eye care, research, and education in London under a scheme proposal called Oriel.
The appointment follows a ‘comprehensive’ six-month long RIBA-led competition process.
Oriel is a joint proposal from Moorfields Eye Hospital, UCL, and Moorfields Eye Charity to relocate all services from Moorfields Eye Hospital on City Road and the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology on Bath Street to a new, purpose-built facility at a preferred site at St Pancras Hospital.
The plans will be subject to a public consultation, led by Camden CCG. The new facility would bring together clinical care, research, and education expertise ‘in one flexible, fully integrated facility’, and if approved, could open to patients in 2025/26.
In December, Moorfields announced that it had secured nearly £20 million in funding from the Department of Health and Social Care. RIBA launched a competition in June 2018, encouraging architects and design teams globally to apply, after which five shortlisted teams were announced.
David Probert, chief executive of Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “It was a privilege to be on the evaluation panel of the five shortlisted design teams. AECOM’s award-winning team was selected due to its exemplary innovation and creativity, outstanding design quality, and previous experience in delivering health, research, and education facilities UK-wide. It has been a huge few months for this innovative and exciting project. I look forward to working with AECOM, Penoyre & Prasad, and White Arkitekter, as it progresses.”
Dale Sinclair, director of Technical Practice – Europe, Middle East and Africa, from AECOM, said: “AECOM is excited to be leading this experienced team of architects, engineers, and specialists. Together with Penoyre & Prasad and White Arkitekter we will work with the joint partners, patients, and staff, to design a world-class facility that will help shape the future of eye care, research, and education.
“Our design is focused on maximising collaboration and knowledge exchange, with an ‘oriel’ at the building’s centre enabling greater interaction between patients, clinicians, and researchers. The facility’s public spaces would create a new urban realm to connect seamlessly with the ongoing renaissance of the King’s Cross area.”
The AECOM-led team will now work closely with Oriel’s project team to produce concept designs on which staff and patients will be able to comment to. This work will inform the upcoming Outline Business Case.
