Finsbury Health Centre

Tecton Group, London, 1938

 

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Entrance front of centre block showing ramp 

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  • Entrance front of centre block showing ramp    
  • View of whole project    
  • Main front by day    
  • Aerial view looking south    
  • View along Northampton Street    
  • Main front by night    
  • Roof garden with column concealing ventilation shaft    
  • Exterior of the lecture hall    
  • Canopy over roof garden taken at night    
  • Main entrance showing marble door surround    
  • Main entrance hall open to public    
  • The waiting hall immediately within the entrance    
  • Seating in public entrance hall    
  • A tapering corridor    
  • Typical clinic interior    
  • Staircase showing non-slip flooring    
  • Painted wall of entrance hall    
  • Basement plan    
  • Ground floor plan    
  • First floor plan    
  • Section through centre block    
  • Axonometric basement floor    
  • Axonometric ground floor    
  • Axonometric first floor    
  • Section showing all floors    
  • Section showing construction    
  • Section showing heating and plumbing    
  • Section showing electrical features    
  • Diagram showing fresh air and sun to all areas    
  • Diagram showing development of window system    
  • Diagram showing forces on walls    
  • Diagram showing facade construction    
  • Diagram showing arrangement of pipes    
  • Clinic felixible interior    
  • Lecture hall seating    
  • Lecture hall    
  • Detail section through upper window    
  • Detail plan of steel window frame    
  • Detail elevation of teak frame    
  • Detail of metal box skirting    
  • Detail showing services    

Modernist health centre designed to promote well being, incorporating offices, disinfection station, lecture theatre and clinical spaces

The purpose of the building is to co-ordinate all the health services which were previously scattered over different parts of the Borough.

The plan of the building was designed to be a pair of arm, open to all visitors, creating the central entrance space and wings on either side. Offices and clinics were placed in wings, angled to allow as much daylight in as possible.

To maximise flexibility of space clinics were given moveable partition walls and all ducting placed behind panels on the building’s exterior. Soundproofing was installed between floors to reduce noise disturbance.

The design is a concrete frame structure, faced with cream-coloured frost-proof tiles. The end walls of both wings have a solid concrete wall, faced with the same tiles, that acts as a buttress, taking all horizontal stresses. Light was an important factor in the design so large windows run the length of the wings, while glass bricks make up the majority of the entrance facade.

Data

  • Completed: 1938
  • Sector: Healthcare
  • Total cost: £62,000
  • Address: Pine Street, Islington, London, EC1R 0LP, United Kingdom

Professional Team