Sprunt Improves Urban Health Care Facilities

Design and consultancy practice Sprunt has gained planning permission for the development of a Primary Care Resource Centre in Bingfield Street, Islington, London.

The project is the second NHS Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) scheme within the London Boroughs of Camden and Islington to obtain planning permission, the first being the Primary Care Centre situated in Hanley Road, Islington.

The new care centre is located at the heart of Islington's Bemerton Estate; an area which has recently benefited from an urban renewal programme involving the introduction of new housing.

Comprising GP practices, space for community nurses, a resource centre and a community space that reaches out to an existing square, the two-storey building has been specifically designed to compliment the estate's regeneration.

Sprunt has proposed a layout that allows easy access to the main public areas, with entrance to the building through a semi-private courtyard.

The ground floor features two GP practices, a spacious waiting room, and an adjacent multi-purpose room which has the potential to open out onto consulting rooms, the waiting area, a private courtyard and a landscaped area at the rear of the site.

The first floor, containing a minor surgery suite, offices, space for the community nurse, conference and resource areas, has been designed to be more private; providing patients and staff with a comfortable, modern environment.

To maximise the level of comfort, Sprunt has also introduced 'sun ducts' into the building's deep plan.

Not only do the ducts maximise the amount of natural light and ventilation on both floors, but they also act as a means of way-finding and orientation, guiding patients from the waiting room to clinical areas.

"Overall, the structure and envelope of the building have been designed to be as flexible as possible," said John Turner, director, Sprunt.

"This allows the internal layout to be easily reconfigured as the function of the centre develops." Sprunt is design team leader, architect and health planner appointed by the Community Solutions for Primary Care (CSPC) consortium.

CSPC is the preferred bidder for Camden and Islington LIFT.

LIFT is a government initiative that uses private funding to improve primary health care facilities in England's most deprived areas.

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