The Project
Jamie Fobert Architects were approached by The Maggie Keswick Jencks Cancer Caring Centres Trust to deliver a new cancer care centre located at the University Hospital of Coventry and Warwickshire, which is part of the West Midlands Strategic Clinical Network for Cancer; currently the Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust provides services to a population of over one million. Our project focuses on well-being and sustainability, including the use of natural light and natural materials.
Covering 4800sqm, the site is a man-made mound with its higher point 3 meters above street level. To the north is the hospital and to the south there are views of the adjacent Jubilee Nature Reserve. The new building will be partially embedded into the mound, to facilitate access. A set of slow stairs and ramps embedded in a wild garden subtly remove the visitor from the atmosphere of the street and the hospital.
The interior spaces are warm and welcoming, full of light and open space, with large windows framing views out into the garden and across to the Nature Reserve.
A lattice structure to the ceilings complements the geometry of the building and makes reference to Coventry’s history of weaving.