John Morden Centre

Jim Stephenson

• Arquitetos

A place of hope during a social care crisis

The John Morden Centre has won the RIBA’s Stirling Prize 2023. At a time when England’s health and social care system in “gridlocked” and we face “tsunami of unmet care” (Care Quality Commission report) this daycare centre housing health and social facilities shines a spotlight on the potential for architecture to uplift the human spirit and help residents thrive in their older years. Over one million people with care needs in the UK receive no formal or informal support, everyone should have a right to live well in their later years and the John Morden Centre is designed to help the residents of Morden College lead a fulfilling and rich life.

photo_credit Jim Stephenson — Jim Stephenson

The RIBA Stirling Prize is the architecture profession’s top award and recognises the best building of the year. It is judged against a range of criteria including design vision; innovation and originality; capacity to stimulate, engage and delight occupants and visitors; accessibility and sustainability; how fit the building is for its purpose and the level of client satisfaction.

Morden College has been at the forefront of enriching older people’s lives for more than 300 years. Today the Charity’s core purpose is to provide older people in financial hardship, who are in need with a home for life, to support them as they grow older, and to provide care services, including residential care and residential nursing care, if the need arises. Morden College is a strong community, committed to enabling the older people they support to have the highest quality of life, for the rest of their life.

The John Morden Centre is designed to be a hub for beneficiaries’ social activities and health and wellbeing needs. It is home to Café 19, Merchant’s Hall (a theatre space) and resident arts and crafts facilities and a health centre. The hub aims to tackle social isolation and loneliness among older people creating a friendly and convivial space for them to thrive creating a space for support and companionship.

Age UK in their report ‘The State of Health and Care of Older People in England 2023 report that amongst our older population “many lack the social care they need, and/or end up in hospital when this might have been avoided” and that “The crisis in the NHS therefore ultimately reflects our failure to care as effectively as we could and should for our growing older population”. The architects of the John Morden Centre see it as a model that could be find a wider application in the health and social care sector.

The low carbon building is designed to minimise environmental impact. It uses regenerative materials such as timber for its construction and passive design to reduce the amount of energy it uses.

Mæ’s building interprets the layers of history on site by introducing features that typify the original Almshouse and Chapel – attributed to Sir Christopher Wren and built by his master mason Edward Strong - including the cloister, steep roofs and chimneys.

A cloister, like an avenue of trees, runs through the building, off of which a series of pavilions hang. These generous tent like pavilions accommodate the functional and communal spaces. The cloister is wide enough for two passing wheelchairs with seats for resting on your journey. It facilitates a happy and surprising journey along a winding path past carefully curated pockets, niches, courtyard gardens, and spatially delightful rooms. Visitors to the building are always aware of nature with generous views to gardens and a large cedar tree that sits at the centre of the building.

"Morden College is absolutely thrilled to have won the Stirling Prize 2023. Our mission is to give the very best possible life to the older people we provide homes, love, support and care for. The John Morden Centre, a beautiful, tactile space that has true purpose, sits at the heart of that effort; a true hub of life. Thank you Mæ. Thank you RIBA.” David Rutherford Jones, Chief Executive, Morden College

“The John Morden Centre has been a really fulfilling project to work on. At a time when adult social care is in a perilous state this Award demonstrates that there is hope for the sector and the project offers up a model for others in the health and care sector; inspiring them to create environments that positively impact on people’s mental and physical health.

The John Morden Centre is a special project for us at Mæ. The brief for the Centre reflected perfectly our studio’s purpose: to design buildings that improve social wellbeing particularly for the most vulnerable in society, advance environmental architecture and create buildings that uplift the human spirit.” Alex Ely, Founding Director Mæ