Finsbury Health Centre

Finsbury Health Centre

Health treatment centre built 1935-1938 on Pine Street, Islington, designed by Berthold Lubetkin and the Tecton group for the Borough of Finsbury.

The building is constructed of reinforced concrete with an H-shaped plan. The wings incorporate a rough cutting system of hollow tile floors supported by perimeter beams and structural mullions. External surfaces are partially clad with faience tiles and asbestos panels, replacing original thermolux glass panels. Glass brick screens, brass and copper detailing, and metal windows feature throughout, with teak framing to the casement windows. The roof is low and curved over the central lecture theatre, with flat roofs to the remainder of the central block and flanking wings.

The structure is two storeys with basement and roof terrace to the centre block. The H-shaped plan has a centre block projecting at the rear, with splayed shanks whose walls are not parallel. The symmetrical facade features a central canted-forward entrance block at ground storey, comprising a three-bay wall of deeply recessed glazed bricks. The bays are articulated by slim tile-faced concrete piers supporting a plain tiled entablature which also functions as the parapet wall to the roof terrace planter. The entrance to the centre bay is approached by a straight ceremonial ramp with marble jambs and transom, leading to fully-glazed bronze double doors surrounded by glass blocks. The flanking bays are wider.

The first floor of the central block is set back from the front of the roof terrace. Wide projecting pierced eaves are supported by elliptical ventilation ducts. The name appears in trompe l'oeil shadowed lettering on the parapet of the first floor, an important part of the design statement. The angled wings contain tapered corridors with concrete end walls tiled in panels. The side walls follow a grid system with teak frame and metal casement windows alternating with spandrel panels, originally glazed (destroyed in the war) with tiled surround.

The principal interior space is a spacious waiting area across the centre block with piloti. The reception desk, reconstructed around 1970, stands opposite the entrance door backed by a concave screen, originally decorated with a mural of a large map of London and two murals by Gordon Cullen (all since removed). The fine lecture theatre on the first floor sits on axis with the entrance, featuring splayed walls, a curved back and vaulted curved roof. A roof garden completes the building.

Historically, Finsbury Health Centre was intended as the centrepiece of the ambitious Finsbury Plan for borough-wide redevelopment, though it was the only element built before the war. The centre was conceived to consolidate and improve various healthcare projects that had developed piecemeal across the borough. Designed after Lubetkin and Tecton had established their reputation for considered responses to social needs, the building demonstrates Lubetkin's rational thought, constructivist and classical training, deeply held social beliefs, and his conviction in architecture's role in creating a new society. It marks the culmination of the firm's most creative period.

The Finsbury Health Centre is the finest monument to nascent clinical provision in Britain and a brilliant piece of planning. It is of major importance for breaking with the tradition of municipal architecture, its flexible plan, and up-to-date construction techniques. It was viewed nationally as a prototype for modern construction and communal architecture such as NHS clinics and health and treatment centres.