Cambridge Children's Hospital

Engineering services for a sustainable, state-of-the-art hospital designed to take care of the whole child. The hospital embeds genomic and psychological research alongside clinical expertise in physical and mental child health.

Built on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, the hospital will care for children and young people from across the East of England, nationally and internationally, as a “hospital without walls”.

Cambridge Children’s Hospital (CCH) is aiming to provide a whole new way of caring for young people, integrating a holistic approach with both mental and physical healthcare by dual-trained staff, alongside world leading academic research to prevent and diagnose diseases early. Digital and telehealth technology will facilitate care beyond the hospital walls, providing support for healthcare professionals from a distance where needed.

An exemplar in sustainability – a safer future for all

The environmental impact of CCH has been a major consideration in the development of these plans, as the hospital aims to be an exemplar in sustainability as part of its role in providing a safer future for all. It will include as many outdoors spaces as possible, including gardens, courtyards and terraces to provide access to nature and spaces for play and relaxation that support biodiversity and wildlife. The main hospital building will itself will be enclosed within a wide landscaped green perimeter that recreates the feel of a summer meadow.

With an estimated total footprint of around 35,000sq m, including 5,000sq m of research space, the early designs show how this innovative hospital might look when it opens. The plans also include details of possible future development for the hospital.

The international design team is led by Turner & Townsend, as project manager and cost manager, and comprises an architectural collaboration between Hawkins\Brown and White Arkitekter, with Ramboll providing engineering services, MJ Medical providing healthcare planning and planning consultancy by Bidwells. In March 2022, the team has helped to secure planning permission for Cambridge Children’s Hospital early designs.

Cambridge Children’s is a partnership between two leading NHS trusts - Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH), and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) - and the University of Cambridge (UoC). The project team has been engaging with staff from across the partner organisations about how the hospital should work. Members of Cambridge Children’s Network, which is made up of children, young people, parents and carers from across the region, have also been instrumental in helping shape how the facility might look and feel in these early designs.

Work continues on developing the Outline Business Case, which has to be approved by NHS England and Improvement and the Department of Health.

“I’m delighted that we have taken another big step towards making Cambridge Children’s Hospital a reality. There is still a long way to go before building work can begin but planning approval for the early external designs is a rock-solid foundation. We are determined to realise our vision for ‘a whole new way’: one that integrates children’s mental and physical health services alongside world-class research to provide holistic, personalised care in a state-of-the-art facility.”

Andrew Tollick

Senior Programme Manager for Design and Construction, Cambridge Children’s Hospital

“Ramboll is delighted to have provided sustainability and engineering advisory and design services to support the successful planning submission on this fantastic project. The project will be a beacon of healthcare expertise that benefits children and young people across the East of England, as well as nationally and internationally. Being a part of the collaborative client and multi-disciplinary consultant team has reached this achievement has been fantastic. We are excited that the project can progress to its next stage and that is will ultimately provide a world-class sustainable, net zero carbon, future-proofed, smart and homely healing environment."

Cambridge Children's Hospital

New Children's Hospital, Helsinki

New Karolinska Solna hospital

North Zealand Hospital’s fresh design