Shortlisted
Regeneration and Retrofit
Constructing Excellence SECBE Awards 2024
Shortlisted
Project of the Year - Public Sector and Cultural Interiors
Mix Awards 2024
Shortlisted
Public Sector
FX* Design Awards 2024
The new Skills & Simulation Suite for London Metropolitan University transforms one floor of a former 1960s glass factory into an immersive teaching environment to prepare students for life in busy, and often pressured, medical environments.
The challenge
The retrofit is a response to evolving changes in healthcare delivery. With staff shortages becoming ever more acute, employers are working with education providers to offer placements and improve job opportunities for graduating students.
London Met recognised these challenges, with the new Skills & Simulation Suite contributing to the need for allied health professionals to collaborate across all sectors of health and social care.
Immersive teaching
A simulated hospital ward, intensive care unit, phlebotomy teaching area, paediatric ward, 360 degree VR suite, and various home environments are all designed to equip trainee nurses for real-world scenarios.
These spaces are supported by prep areas and utility rooms to help technicians timetable more efficiently, maximising the number of students that can be taught in a term—and increasing the number of nurses entering the workforce.
Outside the simulation wards, flexible multi-use spaces host the university’s healthcare and human sciences subjects, encouraging connection between disciplines while giving students a comfortable home base.
Art Nouveau inspired interior
To optimise the building’s 2,000 sqm floorplate, we removed existing partitions to create expansive, column-free teaching spaces.
A central ‘street’ now runs through the floor plan to provide a hub for the teaching spaces with nooks for breakout seating and opportunities for spontaneous connections. Abundant internal glazing floods the school with natural light to improve occupant wellbeing, while promoting a visual connection between spaces and showcasing some of the specialist learning areas.
In homage to the iconic Holloway Road Tube Station, we incorporated British Art Nouveau inspired tiling and semi-circular architectural details. Key London Met brand colours accentuate the structure’s Y-shaped columns to enhance the building’s industrial aesthetic, while bespoke joinery uplifts the corridor for a more interesting route throughout the building.
Broader impact
London Met collaborates with local organisations, particularly in Islington and the broader London area, helping both students and the local community benefit from patient-facing clinics, whether on campus, with partners, or during placements.
To support future growth, the centre will host 400 students, with plans to grow to 1,000 in five years. The future vision involves adding Physiotherapy (up to 200 students) and Occupational Therapy courses.
At a time when the NHS is under immense pressure to serve the public, the Skills & Simulation Suite equips medical students with the skills and knowledge they need to handle these challenges, forming a highly skilled nursing workforce for our country.
