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On the John Morden Centre, a timber “cloister” subtly contrasts the gathering of brick buildings at Morden School in Blackheath, simply south of London. The retirement neighborhood constructing designed by London-based Mæ was named the winner of the RIBA Stirling Prize 2023. The annual prize is essentially the most prestigious structure prize within the U.Ok. which yearly acknowledges the design of a brand new constructing within the nation.
“The John Morden Centre is a spot of pleasure and inspiration. It sensitively and seamlessly integrates medical amenities and social areas, delivering a daring and hopeful mannequin for the design of well being and care centres for the aged,” mentioned OMA accomplice Ellen van Loon, who served because the chair of the prize’s jury. “Creating an surroundings that lifts the spirits and fosters neighborhood is clear at each flip and in each element.”
Whereas the middle offering home care, medical amenities, and social areas for the aged is new, Morden School was established over 300 years in the past. A lot of its constructing inventory is recognizable for its stellar masonry work from the desk and palms of architect Sir Christopher Wren and his mason Edward Robust. The John Morden Heart’s use of brick references these present Grade I–listed buildings throughout the campus.
Cross-laminated timber (CLT) was used to kind its construction, conceived as a collection of low-lying volumes. The timber nets the buildings collectively forming “cloisters” that span and join the brick constructions. Mæ selected CLT for its low embodied carbon. Different sustainable strategies carried out on the mission embody the usage of a lime-based mortar between the brickwork so the brick may be reused sooner or later. Chimneys have been added on a number of of the volumes as a way for passive air flow.
The constructing considers the wants of its foremost occupants. Alongside pathways there may be built-in seating, patterns on the ground delineate areas for these with dementia, hid handrails are constructed into the woodwork, and the bottom is stage.
“The John Morden Centre has been a extremely fulfilling mission to work on,” mentioned Alex Ely, founding director of Mæ. “At a time when grownup social care is in a deadly state, this award demonstrates that there’s hope for the sector and the mission affords up a mannequin for others working inside well being and care – inspiring them to create environments that positively influence on folks’s psychological and bodily well being.”
Past residential and medical programming, the complicated homes quite a few social and leisure areas, amongst these an artwork room, hair and nail salon, a restaurant, and a theater for occasions. A connection to the outside is clear throughout the positioning with benches positioned alongside grass patches, matured timber, and backyard beds.
The John Morden Centre beat out a shortlist of tasks to win the RIBA Stirling Prize 2023, an inventory that included housing tasks and college buildings. The prize’s jury was headed by van Loon; different jury members included: Niall McLaughlin, founder and principal at Niall McLaughlin Architects and previous RIBA Stirling Prize recipient; Armstrong Yakubu, senior accomplice at Foster + Companions; Mona Chalabi, journalist and author; and Marek Suchocki, head of trade associations technique at Autodesk, a sponsor of the 2023 RIBA Stirling Prize. Rachael Owens of Buckley Grey Yeoman, served because the jury’s Sustainability Skilled.
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