Oak Centre for Children and Young People, Royal Marsden Hospital

The 31-bed Oak Centre for Children and Young People is one of the largest comprehensive children and young people’s cancer centres in Europe. The centre sees almost 600 inpatients and more than 5,000 day patients every year.

The brief was to provide much-needed, up to date wards for the modern treatment of cancer for children and teenagers by refurbishing an existing ward and adding a two storey extension.

The new unit accommodates paediatric in-patients at ground floor and the first floor is a dedicated facility for teenagers currently unavailable in South London. The refurbished unit provides day care and out-patients.

The new ward accommodation has been designed to obtain as much natural light as possible to patient areas and maximise views to the outside. The internal layout creates a central nurses hub with very generous circulation and good relationships to the patient areas. The scheme includes the formation of a number of external play areas that have been planted and landscaped to aid their use as therapeutic spaces.

The new building is also linked to existing overnight accommodation for parents and provision is made for parents’ social spaces. The teenage ward was planned in a similar manner to the paediatric ward but benefits from spaces dedicated to social interaction and therapeutic play.