The design of healthcare facilities is undergoing a radical transformation. Our work on the new Cancer Research Hospital offers valuable insights into how we can design future medical spaces to be more collaborative and sustainable, in partnership with patients and other stakeholders.
The vision for the specialist hospital focuses on ‘changing the story of cancer’ through early detection and personalised medicine, by bringing together clinical expertise from Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) with world-class scientists from the University of Cambridge, Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre, and partners from industry, under one roof. This vision is embedded into every architectural and operational decision. The design fosters integration between university research, commercial innovation and frontline healthcare delivery. It seeks to blur the traditional boundaries between treatment and discovery, ultimately aiming to improve patient outcomes through a deeply collaborative model.
Starting strong
The start of the project dates back to 2012 when initial work on the site began, albeit for a different purpose. It wasn’t until 2018, when cancer care became the defining priority, that the project gained renewed momentum.
The continuity of NBBJ’s involvement in the project has been a major strength. We have been engaged from concept to construction, enabling a deep understanding of stakeholder needs and long-term vision, working closely with staff and patients throughout the design to ensure the new hospital will provide the best care to meet everyone’s needs.
This continuous presence allowed the design to evolve in meaningful ways, balancing clinical priorities with moments of empathy and human experience. While clinical briefs can necessarily be highly prescriptive, the team have tried to prioritise elements that enhance patient and staff wellbeing.
The hospital occupies a corner site that is already embedded within a wider healthcare and research ecosystem, in a prime location on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. The campus, the largest centre of medical research and health science in Europe, includes Addenbrooke’s Hospital, AstraZeneca, Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre and Royal Papworth Hospital, presenting huge collaboration opportunities through relationships with these surrounding organisations.
The site will be further enhanced by the new Cambridge South rail station and a redesigned high street that will improve both pedestrian and public transport access.
Design flexibility
Flexibility was a key design requirement. The building had to work within its current physical and social context while also preparing for future changes, including the development of the planned Cambridge Children’s Hospital. The aim for Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital was to create a facility that felt like a ‘home’ for patients, clinical teams and researchers, accommodating treatment and innovation under one roof. This future-focused, adaptable approach ensures the hospital will remain effective and forward thinking for decades to come.
Diversity of functions
One of the most significant innovations in the new hospital is the co-location of diverse functions. By integrating research labs, clinical trials and treatment spaces, the hospital moves away from the traditional siloed approach.
Currently, cancer services are located across multiple sites. With a limited site for the new hospital, it was necessary to stack the varied functions vertically, which led to a modular design approach. This includes inpatient, day case and outpatient space alongside various supporting functions and interstitial plant floors — strategically placed on levels 2, 4, 7, and the roof — enable efficient distribution of services, reduce long mechanical runs and support specialised spaces like isolation wards and cytotoxic pharmacies.
Visual comfort was another design priority. The design introduces shadow, depth and rhythm in facade elements to create a more human-scale and welcoming appearance for the hospital. This human-centric design strategy is also extended to patient rooms, emphasising natural light, privacy, and reducing stress.
One of the most powerful takeaways from this project has been the importance of stakeholder engagement. Hospitals are complex ecosystems with countless user groups: patients, carers, families, clinicians, researchers, support staff, infection control and more.
Each group brings distinct needs and concerns, reconciling these to balance stakeholder feedback with design requirements needs skilful mediation and strong leadership. Our client led this expertly, working with NBBJ as facilitators and translators.
All user groups included patient representatives, ensuring that lived experiences informed the decision-making process. This collaborative method has led to smarter, more empathetic design choices throughout the hospital.
Interior design
Involving an artist in the early design stages helped visualise how the building could work, showing scale, people flow and comfort, which later evolved into a broader strategy influencing interior design. In a healthcare context, aesthetics is an important element, as the aesthetic design can impact mood and wellbeing, and therefore can affect recovery rates. Involving stakeholders early and in a meaningful, collaborative way has led to resilient, adaptable and human-centred outcomes.
Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital challenges the stereotype of hospitals being intimidating places, by reimagining the patient experience from the moment of arrival until discharge and beyond, offering care and support locally and in patients’ homes where possible.
Inside, a double-height café and a central courtyard immediately orient visitors and offer comfort. Wayfinding is clear, with visual links to outdoor spaces at every turn. Back of house and staff circulation areas are separated, minimising congestion and confusion. Every effort has been made to reduce stress, fostering a welcome and calm environment.
Crucially, the interior framework is adaptable. The repetitive structural grid allows wards to be repurposed as outpatient areas or laboratories, and vice versa, if required.
Typically, different hospital functions can have incompatible layouts and systems but this building’s consistent chassis allows for flexibility, ensuring the hospital can evolve as healthcare needs change.
Connection to nature
We have applied the principle of biophilic design to shape the hospital’s layout. All waiting areas have access to views and natural light. Every public lift opens onto a view of greenery, with windows marking the end of each corridor, giving users strong orientation. Corridors typically end in ‘dead ends’ which are often filled with storage cupboards and toilets, with little thought as to how they impact the user experience. We sought to change that by maximising every opportunity to bring in light and greenery.
Balconies and terraces are carved into the building at multiple levels, providing access to outdoor space even on the upper floors. These are not merely decorative, they are functional areas designed to be accessed by specific groups, such as chemotherapy patients, contributing to their care and comfort.
The carefully considered design features go beyond aesthetics; they meet clinical requirements while improving both patient and staff experience, which in turn can positively influence recovery and staff retention.
Environment and construction
From the outset, environmental sustainability was integral to the design strategy. The hospital is a forerunner in adopting the NHS’s new green agenda. It uses an all-electric energy system, powered by air source heat pumps and supplemented by extensive photovoltaics on the roof. These efforts are part of a holistic Net Zero approach that addresses both embodied and operational carbon.
Alongside the green strategy, there is also a blue roof on the building — designed to retain and slowly release rainwater, thereby reducing runoff and supporting site-wide drainage strategies. Prefabricated structural and facade components will reduce waste and speed up construction, while high-performance glazing and solid wall elements will balance daylight with thermal performance.
We have prioritised warmth and comfort through smart material selection, while ensuring they meet rigorous infection control standards. Low-water-use fixtures and controlled air exchange rates further reduce the building’s environmental footprint, without compromising clinical effectiveness.
Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital serves as a blueprint for the future of healthcare design. It demonstrates how thoughtful architecture can align with clinical goals, environmental imperatives and the needs of all users, whether they are patients or staff.
Key lessons include the critical value of timely stakeholder engagement, the benefits of co-locating diverse functions, and the necessity of embedding environmental sustainability into every decision. By embracing these principles, healthcare environments can become not just places of treatment but spaces of healing, collaboration and hope.