Positive prognosis for revamped surgical college building

Project: Royal College of Surgeons of England

Location: London, United Kingdom

Award: Publicly Accessible Interiors: Education, Silver, 2023

Design Practice: Hawkins\Brown

Client: Royal College of Surgeons of England

The transformation of the Royal College of Surgeons building reflects a cultural shift to more modern, flexible working. Open plan ‘activity based’ workspaces, with centrally shared social and informal meeting spaces, are arranged around the central atrium at upper levels to allow chance encounters that encourage the exchange of ideas between visiting surgeons, researchers and staff.

Modular furniture, storage solutions and ‘touch down’ space in an open plan layout are supported by bookable high-tech meeting rooms, tea points and social spaces. Step-free connections between new and old are achieved via sloped floors, helping overcome historic issues of accessibility and circulation. The new frame pulls back on each level to give the original brick facade space to breath and to be celebrated. This wall sails through every level of the atrium as a reminder of the historic building, and its relationship with the new.

Design highlights

The interiors strategy celebrates the threshold between the new and old across all levels with subtle differences in colour of both fixed joinery and loose furniture. Warm gallery lighting within the atrium highlights the texture of the original brickwork facade. Lime wash, lime paint and lime render have been applied to the surface to visually homogenise and brighten its appearance, whilst allowing its texture and layers of history to shine through.

Photo credits: Jack Hobhouse / Ruth Ward / Damian Griffiths