Architect - John Outram Associates

Contractor - John Laing Construction

Brief description of work carried out –

Built on the site of Old Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge, a new building has been created by retaining the existing façade complete with the old ward block behind and forming a new Atrium running the whole length, with new buildings extending out at the rear. The Atrium consists of a highly decorative ceiling edged on all sides by a log and saddle cornice supported by a series of capped robot columns. The proportions are on grand scale, the columns are 1500mm diameter with a moulded capping to match and the cornice is 2000mm girth. The columns are clad with indivisual plaster tiles of a rectangular design with bands of small diagonal tiles, all with a chamfered edge to form a rusticated effect. The panelled ceilings to the end bays were formed with fibrous plaster plainface with a log and saddle cornice similar to elsewhere. Other areas included the ceiling of the lecture theatre based on a similar design to the Atrium ceiling. In Houston, Texas, a building similar in design was built at Rice University and Cooks were responsible for supplying the fibrous plaster tiles required for the Atrium columns.