PROJECTS
The desire to create a homely environment defined the approach to the building environmental design .
It is set in a sunny garden where plants and trees lift the spirits and contrast with the necessarily clinical atmosphere of the nearby oncology unit .
The plan is informal – there are no corridors or main entrance and patients wander through the garden to walk into the heart of the building , the kitchen , the central table and the fireside . A gently-sloping roof extends outwards on its long east and west elevations to create verandas and courtyards . Although the centre is largely single storey , the roof rises at mid-point to create a mezzanine level , naturally illuminated by triangular roof lights and supported by lightweight timber lattice beams . The beams act as natural partitions between different internal areas , visually dissolving the architecture into the surrounding gardens .
The centre combines a variety of spaces , from intimate private niches to a library , exercise rooms and places to gather and share a cup of tea . Support spaces are placed on the mezzanine positioned on top of a wide central spine , with toilets and storage spaces below , maintaining natural visual connections across the building .
Throughout the centre , there is a focus on natural light , greenery and garden views . Small courtyards on the east side are private external spaces leading from counselling or treatment rooms ; on the west side are more open , public spaces which extend into the garden as verandas . All these spaces open up to the garden through large , full-height sliding glass doors .
The south end of the building extends into a greenhouse , a garden retreat and a space for people to gather and enjoy the therapeutic qualities of nature and the outdoors .
In common with all Foster buildings , the design is a synthesis of the brief , the structure and the choice of materials . This is clear from Norman Foster ’ s earliest sketches of the structure : a delicate filigree of timber elements which resembles the extended skeleton of a bird , its wings outstretched at the sides . Within this sketch are contained all the elements of the plan – low in scale to respond to the suburban context , long on the east and west elevations to link to the surrounding garden landscape and with a central spine which encloses space for administration and services . The nature of the building suggests that the material for the structure would be domestic in scale and emanate warmth yet be sustainable ; timber was the inevitable choice .
The structure is exposed throughout the building and consists of laminated veneer lumber ( LVL ) trusses each with a set of diagonally opposed double web elements , creating a delicate filigree of timber . A series of LVL trusses form the central spine ; they are set on the diagonal and rise to the ridge , where the spaces between them are infilled with triangular glazed roof lights . At their bases each pair of diagonal trusses meet at a triangular LVL node ; this connects them to the LVL column below and connects both to an LVL truss beam which cantilevers outwards to support the gently sloping roof , supported at its end by a slender steel column .
// FEB / MARCH 2017 35