The Pathology and Pharmacy Building is a large five-storey steel-framed structure constructed in 2003–5 to designs by Capita Percy Thomas, with Campbell Reith Hill, structural consulting engineers. The main contractors were Laing O’Rourke. Clad with horizontal bands of orange terracotta tiles, the block combined fourteen units based in the departments of pathology and pharmacy, an unusual marriage that required careful planning to preserve sanitary conditions. Pathology stores and a mortuary suite were confined to the basement, linked to the new hospital via a tunnel. The ground floor has a large pharmacy supported by first-floor laboratories. One-way doors were installed between the pharmaceutical laboratories and the histopathology unit to prevent contamination of the pharmacy. In contrast, a series of open-plan offices on the fourth floor was designed to promote collaboration between the haematology and biochemistry units. There is a colourful light installation by the artist Martin Richman, and a glass screen for the mortuary reception area by Alexander Beleschenko; Vital Arts, an arts charity that is part of Barts Health NHS Trust commissioned both works.1
Hospital Development, October 2006, pp. 16–17: www.vitalarts.org.uk/commissions/martin-richman-and-alexander-beleschenko ↩