Circle Reading hospital is the second project delivered by Circle Health, a private healthcare provider. The 10,100m² facility provides elective surgery through GP referral both on a private basis and as part of the expansion of patient choice within the NHS. Patient experience is very important to Circle and a lot of attention has been paid to the architecture, interior design and the overall patient experience. They aim to provide the experience of a hotel rather than a hospital.
Photography: Jocelyn Low
Circle Reading Hospital is located in Reading, on a site that was designated for a four-story hospital development in the area master plan. It sits on the transition between new residential development blocks, an existing commercial area and the busy A33 into Reading. The hospital is read in two distinct parts. To the east side, a two-story brick element contains the services areas and operating theatres, relating to size, material, and scale to the surrounding housing. Set back from the edge of the site, it is screened from the housing opposite by a wildflower meadow and trees. Photography: Jocelyn Low
The more striking part of the Circle Reading Hospital is to the west of the site and relates in scale to the commercial development to the south and to the west. The large-scale and distinctive glass cladding is visible from the A33 and signals the presence of the hospital from afar. Two stories of glass curtain walling form the podium ab...