Our building programme
Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) has been constantly evolving since it opened in a Georgian townhouse on Great Ormond Street in 1852 and is now more than halfway through an ambitious redevelopment programme (GOSH Masterplan 2015) to rebuild two-thirds of the hospital site.
Upgrading our estate allows us to offer world-class treatment to more children. It also means we can care for them and their families in safer, more comfortable environments with new facilities appropriate for world-class paediatric care and research.
Current development
The next phase of the GOSH Masterplan will redevelop the Frontage Building and main hospital entrance on Great Ormond Street. Our new bespoke clinical building will be dedicated to caring for children and young people from across the UK with rare and difficult-to-treat cancers.
Currently, our cancer wards and day care services are in different buildings in the older parts of the GOSH estate, meaning it can take up to 20 minutes to get between them. Some of the buildings are over 30 years old and some of the sickest patients undergoing chemotherapy, are treated in Safari Ward in the 1930’s Southwood Building.
Our new centre will include cancer wards, cancer day care, new theatres and intensive care units meaning the specialist teams needed for our patients can all work more closely together. This will improve the quality of our care, reduce risk and allow rapid access in emergencies.
The building will also house new imaging facilities and a specialised chemotherapy pharmacy, to ensure we keep pace with world leading cancer care practice.
Responding to feedback from children and young people
This new facility will mark a step change in the environment we are able to offer. With state-of-the-art single, en-suite rooms which have specialist ventilation and space for parents and carers to stay, children will feel at ease and have room to play and do normal activities. The new centre will also facilitate research and increase our capacity to see and treat patients from across the UK and beyond.
The designs for the centre reflect what children and young people who have been patients at GOSH tell us they want. This includes independence, choice and control, privacy, a home-from-home environment, interactive art and technology, nature to be accessible, and social spaces.
Creating a new entrance for the hospital
Alongside the clinical services, the new building gives us the opportunity to create a new entrance for the hospital and to create a new school for all children who come to GOSH. Based on the ground floor, the school will be highly visible, ensuring that children and parents know that education will be part of everyday life while they stay at hospital. The school includes a performance space and dedicated areas for children according to their age and key stage. There are also treatment rooms so instead of having to return to their wards, children can receive treatment easily while at school.
Outside space for children
Outside space is a key part of the new building. An accessible roof terrace will mean children and their families can play and relax. There are also plans for an Enchanted Forest area with immersive activities to encourage imagination, play and exploration, and a Secret Garden for rest and contemplation. Balconies will also provide much-needed breakout space for staff and families to play and rest.
Where we are with our plans
On 17 April 2023, Camden Council granted full planning permission for our plans.
If you live nearby, our community website (www.goshccc.info) provides detailed information about the project and how the construction process will be managed to limit the impact on our neighbours. You can also contact the redevelopment team by email: ccc@gosh.nhs.uk.
Completed developments
Sight and Sound Centre
In June 2021 we opened the new GOSH Sight and Sound Centre supported by Premier Inn. The centre is set to transform the experience and care of children and young people from across the UK. Patients and over 100 clinicians have moved from outdated existing facilities into the bespoke, multi-disciplinary Centre designed especially for these children’s sensory needs.
A first-of-its-kind for children in the UK, the Centre features state-of-the-art soundproofed booths for hearing tests, an eye imaging suite, a dispensing opticians and other testing facilities. There is also a sensory garden with plants that children can see, touch, smell and hear, and bespoke and engaging artworks especially commissioned for children with sensory loss.
The Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children
In October 2019, we celebrated the opening of The Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children, and welcomed the first outpatients through its doors for treatment. The purpose-built Zayed Centre for Research brings together pioneering research and clinical care under one roof in a world-first that will help to drive forward new treatments and cures for seriously ill children from across the UK and international patients. The new facility has been built on Guilford Street, next to Great Ormond Street Hospital and UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health in London.
Find out more about the Zayed Centre for Research.
Contact the Redevelopment Team: redevelopment.feedback@gosh.nhs.uk
Current and future redevelopment plans
Community engagement
We are committed to close dialogue with our community stakeholders to ensure their voices are heard as we develop our plans. This includes exploring with Camden Council the public realm impacts and improvements which our redevelopment plans can bring for the benefit of the neighbourhood and local infrastructure.
If you would like to be involved in our future plans, please email us at CCC@gosh.nhs.uk
Funding
Our redevelopment programme is supported by the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity.