As a complex interplay of adaptable, interlocking internal and external spaces, Kentish Town Health Centre takes inspiration from the game Jenga. A single-storey dark brick plinth holds two-storeys of crisp-white rendered overlapping volumes. A wide, internalised street runs the full length of the building, widening at its mid-point to create a triple-height, triple-aspect public room that focuses out onto a garden. Glazed circulation cores, bridges, voids and terraces intersect with the axial route of the internal street to stitch all levels together. Housing a large GP practice, a wide range of community health services, office space, staff facilities, a library and meeting rooms, the building (and the process in which it was championed, procured, designed and delivered) has set new standards for the NHS. The project, initially won in a RIBA competition, was shortlisted for the Stirling Prize in 2009.

Awards

• 2010 British Construction Industry Award - Public Building £3-£50m
• 2010 Building Magazine - Public Building Project of the Year
• 2009 Brick Awards - Best Use of Brick and Clay Products
• 2009 Building Better Healthcare Award for Best Primary Care Design
• 2009 Building Better Healthcare Award for Design Champion of the Year
• 2009 LIFT Award for Best Design for a Healthcare Project
• 2009 RIBA Award for Architecture
• 2009 RIBA Client of the Year
• 2009 RIBA Stirling Prize - Shortlist

Exhibitions

• 2012 Venice Biennale of Architecture
• 2010 50 Years of London Architecture
• 2005 Capital Health Exhibition

2008
Location
Camden, London
Cost
£10.1 Million
Client
Camden Primary Care Trust & James Wigg Practice