New Oriel eye health centre breaks ground

The integrated centre will be the new home to Oriel partners: Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Charity. Bouygues UK are the contractors who will build the centre which is due to open in 2027.

The new centre – part of the New Hospital Programme, the biggest hospital building programme in a generation - will harness the expertise of the partners under one roof to enable closer collaborative working between clinicians and researchers. This will speed up delivery of the highest quality treatments and therapies for patients in the UK and globally.

Breaking ground is an important construction milestone which publicly marks the start of building work on site. 

Professor Alan Thompson, Dean of the UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences, said: “Being part of breaking ground really brought home that construction of our new centre is about to start. This is a hugely exciting milestone for Oriel and a great opportunity to celebrate all the work it has taken to get to this point. Oriel will allow us to drive forward innovation to support our work in the long-term and strengthen our partnership with Moorfields to deliver real benefits for patients.”

Guests at the event included Lord Markham CBE, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care, key staff involved in the development and design of Oriel, NHS leaders and leadership donors who are supporting the project.

Dr Martin Kuper, Moorfields Eye Hospital chief executive, said: “We have been looking forward to this breaking ground event for a long time. It signifies we are now in the construction stage of the project to build the new home for Moorfields Eye Hospital and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology. Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard to get us to this stage. This centre will support our global reputation for excellence and help us deliver outstanding care for all our patients.”

Robert Dufton, Moorfields Eye Charity chief executive, said: “We were delighted to invite our generous leadership donors to this exciting event. It gave us an opportunity to thank them for their support. Philanthropy is a key part of the Oriel funding mix and has a vital role to secure the future of eye health on a global scale. We look forward to talking to more interested donors.”

Fabienne Viala, chair of Bouygues Construction in the United Kingdom, said: “In our construction industry, breaking ground is always a very exciting moment. It signifies a huge step forward to start building and is a real opportunity to celebrate. We are so proud to be the leading contractor for this innovative building which will be an exemplar for accessibility, tailored to the needs of patients, and designed flexibly to meet future needs.”

Health Minister Lord Markham said: “It was an honour to attend the breaking ground event to mark the start of construction to build Oriel, which is part of the biggest hospital building in a generation.

"The new centre will advance eye care, research and education to deliver innovative new ways of working, with closer collaboration between clinicians and researchers, enabling quicker delivery of new treatments and therapies for patients. We continue to work closely with the NHS to improve services and Oriel is part of our commitment to build 40 new hospitals by 2030, which is now expected to be backed by over £20 billion of investment.”

Angharad Milenkovic, Vice-President (Advancement) at UCL, said: “Oriel represents a once-in-a-century opportunity to make critical advances in the research, care and treatment of eye disorders and diseases.

“As we reach the breaking ground milestone we are grateful for the generosity and commitment of our donor community to this project. In partnership with Moorfields Eye Hospital and Moorfields Eye Charity, UCL is harnessing the power of philanthropic giving to improve the lives of countless millions of people.”

The Oriel site was previously owned by Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust. In February 2023, Moorfields acquired the site through an NHS-to-NHS transaction approved by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and a £300 million contract was awarded to Bouygues UK to build Oriel.

Demolition of six buildings on the Oriel site started in late February and construction of the 10-storey, 47,000 sq. m, centre has now begun on site.

The new centre will be located in the heart of the Knowledge Quarter, an internationally renowned hub for science and innovation.

It is close to several NHS, commercial and charity partners as well as UCL’s Bloomsbury campus. For the second year running, UCL was named second in the world for the strength of its international research network, which is central to their mission as London’s global university.

Links

• For more information about Oriel, the construction programme and upcoming milestones please visit www.oriel-london.org.uk
• UCL Institute of Ophthalmology
• Moorfields Eye Hospital
• Moorfields Eye Charity
• Support ophthalmology research at UCL
• To see our timelapse video of demolition on the site please visit Demolition - Oriel (oriel-london.org.uk).

Image

• Left to right: Natalie Forrest (New Hospital Programme), Professor Andrew Dick (Director, UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and Oriel senior responsible officer for IoO), Professor Alan Thompson, Dr Martin Kuper, Lord Markham, Mervyn Walker (Chair, Moorfields Eye Charity), Dr Michael Spence, Fabienne Viala, Robert Dufton, and Jon Spence (Moorfields chief operating officer and Moorfields Oriel senior responsible officer) at the ground-breaking ceremony

Media contact

Chris Lane

Tel: +44 (0)20 7679 9222 / +44 (0)7717 728 648

Email: chris.lane [at] ucl.ac.uk