John Morden Centre | Mae Architects

The John Morden Centre provides day care for residents of Morden College, a retirement community, in Blackheath. The new centre complements existing buildings on the Grade I-listed college grounds, including an almshouse and chapel, both attributed to St Paul's Cathedral architect Sir Christopher Wren. 

The building is arranged as a series of red brick ‘pavilions’ housing care and social spaces, stitched together by a central timber ‘cloister’. A striking, zinc-clad roof and high chimneys echo those of its 17th century neighbours.  

A light and airy reception hall is the starting point for a journey through the new building which follows a meandering walkway and terminates in a large theatre hall – part of an existing structure that has been seamlessly upgraded and integrated. A generous overhanging roof, along the exterior of the cloister, provides shade and shelter all year-round.

The centre carefully integrates medical facilities with a range of warm and natural feeling recreational spaces to encourage connections and counter isolation, including an art room, hair and nail salon and café. The theatre provides a backdrop for larger scale events - from parties to tribute performances.

Design choices throughout the building sensitively anticipate the varied needs, abilities and disabilities of users. Features, such as level thresholds, concealed wooden handrails and built-in seating along walkways, offer opportunities for respite while enabling active participation in the community life of the centre. High-contrast patterns on the edges of floors provide dementia-friendly wayfinding, helping residents to navigate between spaces.

Employing principles of ‘biophilic design’, the centre is carefully embedded within the surrounding natural environment. The linear path of the cloister adjusts as it meanders between the existing mature landscape, including a large cedar tree - the focal point of the garden. There are plenty of places to rest, inside and out, and enjoy the natural, changing light and views.

The building uses simple and effective low carbon techniques. The use of materials, such as cross-laminated timber to form the structure, has reduced embodied carbon in the construction process, while lime-based mortar will enable future reuse of the brick cladding. Passive ventilation, utilising the buildings chimneys, minimises the operational energy needed to heat and cool the centre.

John Morden Centre
Location: Blackheath, London
Client: Morden College
Date: 2019 – 2021
Value: Confidential
Awards: RIBA National Awards- Winner 2023RIBA London Awards Building of the Year - Winner 2023RIBA London Awards - Winner 2023Brick Awards - Winner 2021New London Architecture Awards, Caring Prize - Winner 2020New London Architecture Awards - Shortlist 2021AJ Awards - Shortlist 2021Structural Timber Awards - Shortlist 2021New London Awards Wellbeing - Finalist 2017