The Kentish Town Health Centre is a new local health facility housing a large GP practice designed by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM) architects in 2008 located in Camden, London. The original building on the site, a 1973 RIBA award winner and the former home to the general practice, was demolished because of structural uncertainties due to movement in the ground and the difficulty of adding more services. The challenge for the architect was fitting a high number of people under one roof while maintaining a sense of community through transparency and connectivity.

The desire was to create an uplifting and vibrant place by allowing the building to change and be changed showcasing a living building. Even though the building has only been in use for a couple of years the architects have been successful with designing in several solutions that have accommodated changes pertaining to adjustable, versatile, and refitable strategies. The adjustability and versatility of the stuff and space plan layers (e.g. magnetic door labels, separate access through the entrance vestibule) allows the use of spaces and by whom to change throughout the day, in the evening time and across the week.

Image credits: copyright Timothy Soar, Rob Parish, courtesy of AHMM architects’, Robert Schmidt III