State-of-the-Art Specialist Treatment Centre
BMJ Architects acted as Executive Architect for the £67 million Royal National ENT & Eastman Dental Hospital, supporting University College London Hospitals in the delivery of a major specialist healthcare facility within UCLH’s expanding clinical campus. The project brings together ambulatory and day-case services from the Eastman Dental Hospital and the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital, creating a modern setting designed around contemporary models of patient care.
Designing Smiles: Reimagining the Architecture of Dental Teaching Spaces
Located within the highly sensitive Fitzrovia Conservation Area, the building had to respond to the demands of a technically advanced healthcare environment while sitting comfortably within a historic urban setting. The constrained city-centre site required careful planning, coordination and delivery, balancing clinical requirements, logistics and construction activity within a dense and complex part of London.
Clinical accommodation is arranged across six floors above ground and three basement levels, creating an efficient stacking strategy that supports patient flow, staff movement and operational resilience. Consulting and clinical functions occupy the upper floors, while procedure rooms, MRI and CT imaging, support accommodation and plant are integrated within the lower levels.
Concept and Strategy
The project demanded an unusually high level of coordination between clinical planning, specialist healthcare services and construction delivery. Delivered as one of the UK’s early NHS BIM Level 2 projects, coordinated digital information was used to manage the complex relationships between departments, building services and clinical infrastructure throughout design and construction. This helped resolve technical challenges early in the process, reduce coordination risk and maintain certainty across a highly serviced healthcare environment.
The constrained location and sensitive urban context also influenced the construction strategy. A pre-cast off-site panelised façade system was adopted to reduce site activity, improve programme certainty and support quality control within a tightly restricted city-centre site. The approach enabled large sections of the building envelope to be manufactured away from site and installed efficiently, helping minimise disruption while delivering the robust environmental performance required for a modern healthcare facility.
The future of pre frabrication
Video by Mace Consult
Explore the Details
"Moving our two world-renowned hospitals into this new facility means we can now deliver care and treatment in a modern 21st century setting."
Chief Executive of UCLH
Enhancing Clinical Campus Integration at UCLH
Achieving BREEAM Excellent, the development combines long-term environmental performance with highly specialised clinical accommodation. More importantly, it demonstrates how complex healthcare infrastructure can be delivered within a historic urban setting without compromising either clinical functionality or architectural quality. By bringing specialist services together within a single integrated facility, the project provides a flexible and resilient platform for future healthcare delivery.
Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals
An introduction to the range of services at the Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals. Video provided by University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
