Constructing community newsletter - January 2025
Each quarter Bouygues UK, our construction partner, produces a newsletter that summaries what’s happening onsite. The first edition for 2025 is now available: view the January 2025 edition of the construction community newsletter.
This edition includes:
- our topping out celebration held in December to mark reaching the highest point in the construction programme
- upcoming activity on the site over the next few months including finishing the façade panels on the outside of the new centre
- site visit in December bringing together colleagues from the three Oriel partners
- how Bouygues UK supports charities across many sectors including homelessness, children and young people and food poverty.
Got a question about Oriel? Please contact the Oriel team at moorfields.oriel@nhs.net.
Watch a short film (under three minutes) of highlights from the topping out celebration event held on 11 December last year.
Photo: Dominick Tyler
Oriel marks ‘topping out’ today (11 December)
This afternoon an important milestone was celebrated on our journey to build a new centre for eye care, research, and education.
We will ‘top out’ the centre – a construction milestone to mark building the top level of a new building.
The new centre will bring together our staff and students with colleagues at Moorfields; for the first time all under the one roof.
In this short film Andrew Dick, director and Oriel senior responsible officer, shares his thoughts on this momentous occasion. Andrew is joined by Jon Spencer, Moorfields Oriel senior responsible officer, who discusses what topping out means to him and the collaboration opportunities the new centre will bring for us all.
[Insert video]
Stay tuned for photos and a film from the event next week. If you are working onsite on Thursday 19 December, look out for celebratory cupcakes in the common room!
Laura Brewster and Jenni Frost join Oriel programme
Earlier this year the Oriel team welcomed two new members: Laura Brewster (pictured left) and Jenni Frost (pictured right).
Laura and Jenni are joint programme directors of Oriel working together to lead the Oriel programme through design, build and relocation to the new centre for eye care, research, and education.
Before starting her new role in July, Laura was joint director of service improvement and sustainability at Moorfields. Before that, she worked in the Oriel team on the business case for the new centre.
Jenni has over 20 years’ experience in the NHS in strategic leadership and engagement positions. Most recently she was assistant director at the Royal Free Hospital.
Reflecting on her new role, Laura said:
“It is great to come back to work on Oriel at this pivotal time. When I was last working on the project we were finalising the business case; we are now building level nine of the new centre which shows how much progress has been made. We will be working closely with colleagues across the trust and the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology to ensure both organisations are ready for the move to the new centre in 2027.”
Jenni said: “The new centre is such an exciting project; a once in a lifetime opportunity to build a centre for eye care, research, and education in London. Since joining the project in September I’ve been impressed with the dedication and drive of so many colleagues who are bringing their expertise to the project so the new centre meets the needs of patients, staff and visitors. It’s a complex project with many moving parts and I’m really excited to meet more colleagues from each of the Oriel partners as we move into the next phase of the design and build.”
Laura and Jenni have hybrid working patterns; they split their time working on the second floor of Kemp House (next to Moorfields), the executive suite at Moorfields City Road and at home. Laura works full-time, Jenni works Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Between them they have five children under the age of seven. They firmly believe in balancing their family lives with work responsibilities and are proud to be role models for other women in leadership roles.
You can contact them via email (laura.brewster@nhs.net / jenni.frost@nhs.net) or Teams.
Oriel facade panels installed – view photos and video of the exterior of our new centre
Over the past month, the exterior of our new centre for eye care, research, and education has started to take shape!
The outer part of the building, know as the façade, is made up of a mixture of aluminium, glazing, ribbed terracotta panels with bronze anodised fins.
The panels are manufactured offsite in the Netherlands and installed as complete ‘unitised’ panels.
Last year different options were tested with the Oriel advisory group which includes staff, patients and sight loss charity partner representatives. Feedback from the group helped to select an alternative façade material with less glare and reflection which can be problematic for people with sight loss.
Watch a short video (30 seconds) of a façade panel being installed:
The façade is on track to be completed in January next year.
The new centre for advancing eye health is due to open in 2027. Oriel is the joint partnership between the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Moorfields Eye Charity that will move services from Islington to a new, integrated centre in St Pancras, Camden.
View latest drone footage from the Oriel site
How many cubic metres of concrete have been poured on the site of our new centre for eye care, research, and education?
Go on, have a guess… watch this short video (approximately two minutes) to find out the answer!
The video has audio and subtitles, making it accessible to everyone. Please ensure the subtitles/closed captions feature is turned off, as it will conflict with the subtitles included in the video.
The video shows the seventh floor being built, we expect to reach the highest level, level 10, by the end of this year.
Interested in pumps and tanks? The new centre will be kept warm and cool using a ground source heat pump and an attenuation tank will help manage excess surface water from heavy rainfall.
From the outside of the new centre to the inside, you can view the building’s interior via fly-through animations, one focused on the staff/student journey, the second on the patient journey to an outpatient department.
Further information
- Have you got a question? The Oriel team is here to help, please email moorfields.oriel@nhs.net.
Oriel construction community newsletter – October edition out now
Want to know the latest news about the Oriel site? Check out the October edition of the Oriel construction community newsletter produced by Bouygues UK, our construction partner.
View the Construction Community Newsletter October edition
This edition includes:
- how Bouygues UK is using robot technology to mark out rooms during the build phase (see photos above)
- photos of the site – compare the changes between July and October
- site visit in September bringing together colleagues from the three Oriel partners
- how Bouygues UK supported young people with summer work experience
The newsletter is also available on the Oriel website.
Further information
Have you got a question about Oriel? Please get in touch with the Oriel team at moorfields.oriel@nhs.net.
You can also watch animations that ‘fly you through’ the inside of the new centre. There are two animations: one shows areas of the centre available to staff and students; the second is a patient journey to an outpatient department.
Oriel MS Teams backdrop
If you would like to add an Oriel background to your MS Teams calls, please download the image from the link below.
- Oriel MS Teams image background (click on this link, then right-click on the image to save it on your computer)
Billboard installed at Oriel site
A billboard display has been installed around the perimeter of the site of our new centre for eye care, research and education in Camden.
The billboard, often called a hoarding, includes information about the project and photos of colleagues and patients from the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields.
The history of the site is explained and a construction timeline outlines what’s next in the construction programme. The new centre is due to open in 2027.
If you are in the area (4 St Pancras Way, London NW1 0PT), please check it out.
Further information
- Read the July construction community newsletter from Bouygues UK, our construction partner.
- Got a question about Oriel? Email the team at moorfields.oriel@nhs.net.
UCL journalism student reflects on Oriel's design showcase
Sarah Jilani, a journalism student at UCL, (pictured left) attended the Oriel design showcase in March as part of a programme that assigns UCL journalism students to events linked with UCL.
Sarah’s brief was to attend the Oriel design showcase and report back on her experience.
Sarah was hosted by the Oriel communications and engagement team at the joint education hub on Ebenezer Street. The team introduced her to staff at Moorfields and the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology including Professor Andrew Dick, director of the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, (pictured centre) and Dr Michael Spence, UCL president and provost (pictured right).
In her piece, Sarah reflects on the vision for Oriel and the new centre’s design that will promote increased collaboration between staff at both organisations.
- Read Sarah’s piece: A catalyst in the field of ophthalmology: the new centre for advancing eye health
Further information
- If you have a question not answered on the Oriel intranet page, please email Jill Cowing or the Oriel team at moorfields.oriel@nhs.net. The team would love to hear from you.
Oriel design showcase photos
A big thank you to everyone who attended the Oriel design showcase on 5-7 March.
Over 700 people attended the event held over three days at the education hub at Ebenezer Street.
A wide range of people came along including Moorfields colleagues, staff and students from the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, patients, volunteers, donors, stakeholders, local residents and members of the public.
The showcase was an in-person opportunity to view the designs for our new centre, feel tactile models and building materials, watch fly-through animations of parts of the building and share reflections via a feedback tree.
Over 200 comments were hung on the tree which the Oriel team is analysing to identify themes and develop answers to frequently asked questions on the Oriel website.
Design and accessibility experts were on hand at the showcase to answer questions and explain the building’s design principles. The event was a rich source of feedback about many issues including accessible design, wayfinding, our new location in Camden and new ways of working.
If you weren’t able to attend, there’s lots of information about our new centre for eye care, research and education on the Oriel eyeQ page.
You can also contact the Oriel team at moorfields.oriel@nhs.net.
Audiobook available: 200 years of history in 20 minutes about the new eye centre site
As part of the planning permission granted by Camden Council to build our new centre for eye care, research and education, the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) carried out an archaeological dig on the site.
The dig yielded many interesting finds and insights which MOLA has been blogging about over the past eight months. MOLA has also produced an audiobook that explains what life was like in the workhouse infirmary that was discovered on the site.
- Listen to the audio book (approximately 19 minutes) and go back in time to explore the origins of healthcare at St Pancras.
Digging into the records – MOLA publishes Oriel archaeological blog
The Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) has published a blog about the archaeological dig on the Oriel site that sheds light on the people who lived and worked on the site in the 19th century.
The archaeological dig was carried out on the site from March - September 2023 and it revealed foundations and artefacts from a Victorian workhouse.
In its latest blog MOLA explains how court records help to tell the stories of the people of St Pancras workhouse, and the medical care which took place there.
The blog shares the experiences of a doctor, Walter Dunlop, a superintendent, Elizabeth Swincoe and a nurse, Annie Taapf who helped care for adults and children in the workhouse.
St Pancras workhouse didn’t just provide medical care for the people who lived in the workhouse. MOLA’s research revealed that other residents of the local area were taken to the workhouse for treatment. In fact, over a century before the NHS was established, the workhouse was a vital healthcare provider in London.
In September last year the archaeological dig finished onsite; MOLA continues to work offsite to analyse the findings and prepare a final report which will be published later this month.
The archaeological dig was one of the conditions of the planning permission granted by Camden Council in 2022.
Further information
Got a question about the archaeological dig? Have a question about Oriel? The Oriel team is here to help, please contact moorfields.oriel@nhs.net.
Archaeological dig public talk recording available
On Tuesday 30 January, the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) gave an online public talk about the archaeological dig they carried out on the Oriel site.
You can watch a recording of the talk (36 minutes):
Oriel archaeological dig online public talk – Tuesday 30 January
Rosita Greco, senior archaeologist at the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA - pictured), gave an online public talk about what the MOLA team found on the Oriel site.
Oriel is a joint initiative between UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Moorfields Eye Charity that will move our Bath Street site to a new centre for eye care, research and education. We plan to open the centre in 2027.
The archaeological dig was part of Oriel’s planning permission granted by Camden Council in 2022.
All staff and students were invited to hear how Rosita and the MOLA archaeology team uncovered the site’s history during and after their excavation. The talk provided insights into the lives of impoverished people in Camden during the 19th and 20th centuries.
After recording and removing the St Pancras Hospital foundations, MOLA uncovered the remains of an early 19th-century workhouse. The unusually well-preserved archaeology and the presence of different phases and modifications allowed the MOLA team to explore how the site was transformed and adapted over time.
MOLA has been blogging about its findings.
Watch footage from the Oriel site: the cranes are up
The length of two football pitches – that’s the depth we have dug below ground to install ground source heat pumps for Oriel’s renewable energy source. Oriel, our new centre for eye care, research and education, is currently being built by our construction partner, Bouygues UK. This video (two minutes, 30 seconds) shows work during 2023 including the demolition of six existing buildings on the site, an archaeological dig carried out by the Museum of London Archaeology and four cranes installed in October and November.
The video has audio and subtitles so it's accessible for everyone. Please ensure the subtitles/closed captions feature is turned off as it will conflict with the subtitles included in the video.
The video shows 81 boreholes that were each drilled to a depth of 172 metres (the length of two football pitches) to install the ground source heat pumps – part of our ambition to adopt lean, clean and green ways of working. The new centre is due to open in 2027.
Further information
- Got a question? The Oriel team is here to help, please email moorfields.oriel@nhs.net.
Seeing the past in 3D – view Oriel site archaeological findings up close
The Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) has published its latest blog about the archaeological dig carried out on the Oriel site over the past six months.
It’s full steam ahead for Oriel, our new centre for eye care, research and education; the building’s foundations are being laid now on the two-acre site in Camden.
The blog explains how 3D models are used to show archaeology findings up close. In a nutshell, the technology allows you to put yourself in the shoes of archaeologists which is pretty cool.
3D models use accurate location points and detailed photography so the 3D software can find enough of the same points to put all the pictures together. Using your computer mouse you can zoom into artefacts to see an amazing level of detail.
The archaeological dig has now finished onsite; work continues offsite to further analyse the findings and develop a final report for the dig.
Everyone is welcome to join an online webinar in January 2024 to hear from the MOLA team about their analysis. Stay tuned for more details.
The archaeological dig is one of the conditions of the planning permission granted by Camden Council in summer 2022.
Further information
Do you have a question about the archaeological dig? Have a question about Oriel? The Oriel team is here to help, please contact moorfields.oriel@nhs.net.
News coverage of Oriel site archaeological dig
Oriel, our new centre for eye care, research, and education, is being built on part of the St Pancras Hospital site (see map below).
One of the conditions of the planning permission granted by Camden Council in summer 2022 is to undertake an archaeological dig on the site to understand the history of the site.
This week a variety of media organisations reported on the archaeological dig carried out by the Museum of London Archaeologists (MOLA).
Coverage included:
Archaeological dig reveals Oriel site history at public talk
On Tuesday 24 October, the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) hosted a public talk about what its team of archaeologists found on the Oriel site.
The foundations, at the site of our new centre for eye care, research and education, are now being laid by our construction partner, BYUK. As part of Oriel’s planning permission, granted by Camden Council in 2022, a team of archaeologists excavated the site before construction started.
The MOLA team spent months uncovering the history of the site carefully cataloguing what they found and researching clues of what artefacts tell us about the site’s history. They shared details of their findings at a public talk led by Rosita Greco, MOLA senior archaeologist.
Held at the Camden Local Studies and Archives Centre in Holborn, 30 keen historians attended the event to hear what Rosita and her team discovered. Rosita’s talk provided insights into the life of the people who lived in workhouses that were on the site in the 19th and 20th centuries. Life was tough and unforgiving in the workhouses, Rosita painted a picture of what type of work people did at the workhouses and how buildings and duties were structured to separate men, women and children.
MOLA’s work continues with post-excavation work ongoing. In January 2024 they will host an online webinar and later in the year will publish their final report.
As part of its community engagement programme about the Oriel archaeological dig, MOLA has visited two primary schools in Camden. Later this year MOLA will host a community event with older people in Camden.
MOLA has also been blogging about its findings.
Got a question about Oriel?
Please contact the team at moorfields.oriel@nhs.net
Meet our new Oriel apprentices and trainees
Recently 12 new apprentices, placement students and graduates joined the Bouygues UK (BYUK) team at the Oriel site.
BYUK is our construction partner for Oriel, our new centre for eye care, education and research, in Camden.
- Hear what the opportunity means for apprentices: Ahmad, Ben, Charlotte, Christopher, Faye, Halimo, Jules and Keiran.
In July we broke ground on the site and have now started laying the foundations for the new centre. The new apprentices and trainees have joined the BYUK team to help the construction process in a variety of roles including engineering, surveying, design, administration and social value.
As part of the planning permission granted by Camden Council, Oriel will provide opportunities to add social value to the borough of Camden, with employment opportunities for local people.
BYUK is focused on delivering benefits to the local community throughout the lifecycle of the project and has pledged to take on over 100 apprentices, work placements and work experience opportunities until the new centre opens in 2027.
Further information
Got a question about Oriel? The Oriel team would love to hear it! Please email moorfields.oriel@nhs.net.
Oriel breaks ground
Today, Tuesday 11 July, we broke ground on the Oriel site which signifies that construction has started. Professor Andrew Dick shared the news with all staff and students in an email. The event brought all the Oriel partners together: UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Moorfields Eye Charity, along with other key stakeholders including our construction partners Bouygues UK, the New Hospital Programme and Lord Markham, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health.
From left to right: Natalie Forrest from the New Hospital Programme; Professor Andrew Dick, Director of the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology (IoO) and Oriel senior responsible officer for IoO; Professor Alan Thompson, UCL Dean Faculty of Brain Sciences; Dr Martin Kuper, CEO Moorfields Eye Hospital; Lord Markham, Parliamentary Under Secretary of Health for the Department of Health and Social Care; Mervyn Walker, Chair Moorfields Eye Charity; Dr Michael Spence, UCL President and Provost; Fabienne Viala, Chair Bouygues UK; Robert Dufton, CEO Moorfields Eye Charity; Jon Spencer, Moorfields chief operating officer and Moorfields Oriel senior responsible officer.
Oriel will help people receive world class eye care and our researchers to translate their work into treatments and therapies sooner. For staff and students, it will provide new career opportunities, provide an exceptional first-class working and learning environment and attract the best and brightest from around the world. Being innovative is in Oriel’s DNA, the new centre will be a game changer in how future hospitals and academic institutes could be built.
Oriel breaking ground staff and student engagement
To help make everyone feel part of the breaking ground milestone, Oriel branded cupcakes (see photo below) were offered to staff and students at our institute, at Moorfields, and Moorfields Eye Charity. The cakes were an opportunity to open up a conversation with staff and students about Oriel: how they feel about it, whether they have any questions or feedback and to update them on our breaking ground progress. The cakes were delivered on Thursday 13 July. Later that day an afternoon tea was hosted in the institute’s common room to discuss Oriel and distribute the cakes. Cakes were also distributed to staff at their desks at different locations within the institute, including the joint library (basement level) and portering team.
Further information
The Oriel team is keen to hear from all staff and students – if you have a question or feedback to share, please contact the team at moorfields.oriel@nhs.net.
What Oriel means to me
Following the big milestone of regulatory approval, our Director shares some thoughts on Oriel.
Update on 3 April 2023
Later this year we will start to build Oriel, our new centre for eye care, research and education. We plan to move into the new centre in 2027.
Derwent London has exchanged conditional contracts for our Bath Street site and Moorfields’ site on City Road. Earlier this month they shared their proposed designs for the sites at a series of public exhibition events.
If planning permission for Derwent London’s plans is granted, they expect building work to start after we’ve moved out. They anticipate their development will take around five years to build.
Derwent London have launched a public consultation about their plans.
Our new centre for eye care, research and education
Oriel is the joint initiative between the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Moorfields Eye Charity that will relocate the institute from Bath Street and Moorfields’ clinical services at City Road to a brand new integrated centre in Camden.
Harnessing all our expertise under one roof in a new fit-for-purpose centre will enable closer collaboration between researchers and clinicians to speed up the delivery of treatments and therapies for patients – and improve health outcomes for eye disease globally.
Construction is well underway, we plan to open the new centre in 2027.
Oriel vision
Our vision is to create an inspiring environment for innovation to flourish, leading to improvements in eye disease treatments. The new centre will be flexible and modern, enabling the delivery of fundamental scientific research, high quality clinical care and world leading education while attracting and retaining the best ophthalmic scientists, educators and clinicians.
As we get closer to moving into the new Centre, it is important all staff have the opportunity to get involved. This page will be regularly updated with:
- Oriel news and updates
- Images and plans
- Presentations
- Frequently asked questions
Oriel also has an external website with even more information: www.oriel-london.org.uk
Oriel benefits
- Green
Lean, clean and green ways of working to meet NHS and UCL net zero targets and sustainability goals - Staff experience
- Flexible, agile, new ways of working to encourage innovation and collaboration
- Improved facilities for staff and student wellbeing and welfare
- Career progression and opportunities for new roles to attract and retain great people - Patient experience
- Better facilities that are more accessible and provide an improved patient experience
- ‘Bench to bedside’ research leading to quicker access to new treatments
- More opportunities to get involved in research
- More efficient pathways that will reduce patient waiting times - Research and wider societal benefits
- Greater capacity and better facilities to develop new treatments faster and more opportunity for research collaboration – sharing data to enable rapid and seamless partnership
- Contributing to national and global efforts to address the causes of blindness that will contribute to reducing health inequalities - Education
- Expand our educational offering and revitalise our curriculum, including improved clinical courses and training
- Transform teaching and learning for staff, students and academics
- Attract more students and trainees and recruit the best talent
- Deliver our education programmes to more people including patients, carers and members of the public - Design
- Fit-for-purpose environment
- Flexibility to suit changing demand
- Facilitate new patient pathways
- More opportunity for collaboration and closer working between UCL researchers and Moorfields clinicians
- Flexible open learning and collaboration spaces that can be repurposed easily
- Enhanced research facilities to further improve the quality of laboratory-based research - Location
- Researchers and clinicians under one roof will enable more collaboration and strengthen our ties
- Knowledge Quarter in King’s Cross is near other medical, academic and educational organisations
- Co-location with Moorfields will strengthen partnership with the trust to enable extensive collaboration between clinicians, researchers, patients, and education
I have a question, who do I ask?
The Oriel team are here to help: moorfields.oriel@nhs.net
You can also speak with Jill Cowing, j.cowing@ucl.ac.uk, Oriel programme manager.
There’s also information on display in the common room which may answer your question.
What should I do if a patient, colleague or stakeholder asks questions about Oriel?
It's great that people want to know more about Oriel. As a first step, please direct people to the Oriel website, at: www.oriel-london.org.uk
If their question still isn't answered after visiting the website, please encourage them to email moorfields.oriel@nhs.net.
What happens next?
The Oriel team will be engaging with staff and students during 2024/25 to discuss the feedback received at the exhibition and help prepare colleagues for relocation to the new centre.
The construction programme continues at pace, we plan to finish the building structure (all 10 levels) by the end of this year. A topping-out ceremony is planned for December 2024 to mark the highest level being reached.
Who’s who in Oriel
Oriel team
Professor Andrew Dick, UCL Institute of Ophthalmology senior responsible officer
Jon Spencer, chief operating officer, Moorfields senior responsible officer
Robert Dufton, Moorfields Eye Charity chief executive
Laura Brewster, programme director
Jill Cowing, Oriel programme manager
Naomi Owen, head of partnership communications
Rachel Jones, director of development
User group chairs
Dr Wing Chau Tung – co-chair, building design group
Professor Andrew Stockman – chair, dry labs
Professor Michele Russell – chair, education
Professor Alison Hardcastle – co-chair, wet labs
Professor Mike Cheetham – co-chair, wet labs and microscopy and flow with core facilities
Jill Cowing – co-chair, wet labs
Marcus Fruttiger – co-chair, tissue centre
Mike Brown – chair, biological service unit (BSU)
Rhys Edgell – co-chair, information technology
Gary Sabini – co-chair, facilities management
News on Oriel
- Contract signed to build Oriel, a state-of-the-art eye health centre, 23 February 2023
- £5m award to transform the future of global eye health, 24 January 2023
- Final NHS and government approval granted for new UCL and Moorfields eye centre, 9 November 2022