Rushton Street Surgery by Perkins&Will, formerly Penoyre & Prasad

Rushton Street Surgery in London was presented at the AT Awards live finals on 20 September 2023 to a jury comprising Rab Bennetts, Juliette Morgan, Neil Thomas, Peter Bishop, Nana Biamah-Ofosu, and Chair Isabel Allen. Read about how the project has stood the test of time.

Completed
1997

Designed by Penoyre & Prasad, now incorporated into Perkins&Will, Rushton Street Surgery in London is an innovative and forward-thinking patient-centred primary care facility that provides a much wider range of services than traditional GP practices. The brief was to combine three small practices and a larger collective of GPs, together with therapy services, district nurses, health visitors and administration, in a model that anticipated by 10 years the advent of Integrated Health Centres and Polyclinics.

A central, top-lit waiting and circulation ‘mall’ runs the length of the ground floor plan with consulting and treatment rooms on one side, and administrative and service spaces on the other. This three strand ‘ribbon’ is divided laterally to create separate GP premises. Outside, a double-height colonnade allows the ground floor to be set back for parking. The carefully detailed façade integrates the paraphernalia of medical fixtures with the architecture, animating the colonnade like a wavy curtain.

Credit: Morley Von Sternberg

Flexibility is at the heart of the design and has allowed the building to adapt to significant programmatic changes over time. In year six, a fifth GP Practice was accommodated on the first floor with a straightforward repositioning of internal walls and minimal impact on services. In year nine, Shoreditch Park Surgery, located on the ground floor, absorbed the other two practices and a larger surgery was created with minimal construction. A bigger and more prominent front door and lobby were also added.

Initiated by Max Fordham, the services and fabric design were an early experiment in heat recovery ventilation, providing fresh air with a sealed building envelope. The thermal performance of the envelope was based on insulated render, which still looks pristine thanks to rigorous detailing and a generous roof overhang.