Oak Cancer Centre | London

The Royal Marsden, founded by James Marsden, opened in 1851 as the world’s first hospital dedicated to diagnosis, treatment, research and education of cancer.

Today it is a specialist cancer hospital. It conducts extensive research and works closely with its main academic partner, Institute of Cancer Research (ICR). The hospital, built in the 1960s in Sutton, is outdated and does not meet today’s standards.

Royal Marsden and ICR are therefore planning to create a state-of-the-art specialist research centre at Oak Cancer Centre in Sutton, London. The building is designed to bring patients and researchers together, increase research activity, stimulate innovation and accelerate breakthroughs in cancer research.

Oak Cancer Centre aims to accelerate research

Oak Cancer Centre London will bring together more than 400 researchers currently working in different locations, enabling them to share knowledge and ideas to speed up the development of new treatments. It will also be a hospital where patients will receive expert treatment and care. This combination of all these disciplines under one roof makes a unique project. The centre takes its name from the Oak Foundation, which has donated a large part of the cost.

Light and sustainable

The building has a curved shape and consists of a full-height atrium on the ground floor, allowing plenty of natural light into the building. Solar panels are used on the roof to generate energy in a sustainable way. The lower floors are for patients, while the two upper floors are for research teams.

The power of collaboration

For this major project, Sorba provides an important part of the facade. This façade is made up of glass balustrades, Alpolic edges, concrete edges and so-called louvre blinds. All ceilings of the shelters are also supplied by Sorba. This project is in collaboration with Vorsselmans who will take care of the curtain walls.

The Mock-up for this project is designed in collaboration with Vorsselmans, as the different parts of this façade had connect seamlessy.

The challenge of this project lies in the combination of various materials, from Alpolic to concrete, and from aluminium screens to glass balustrades. All the joints and transitions have critical points for which our engineers, in consultation with the architect, have found a suitable solution. This makes it yet another landmark project in our portfolio.

This project is scheduled for completion in summer 2022.