Ralph Buschow has been working with CRM since 2001 when he co-ordinated the delivery of their first bespoke clinic in London. The design of the space was quoted as being “possibly the purest IVF facility in Europe and one of the best in the world” by a leading American embryologist. As well as achieving the highest technical standards considerable care was placed in understanding the patients’ emotional and psychological need – and ensuring the environment responded positively.
After their first ten years Studio Buschow were asked to update, enlarge and improve the design of the clinic. This included moving the administration to another floor, re-organising the front-of-house, adding a new operating theatre with post-operative area and considerably enlarging the IVF laboratory. A fixed budget and a tight time-frame (3 weeks on site) offered considerable challenges to the team in order to successfully strip-out, update and put-back together the mechanical, gaseous, and electrical services. As usual, issues of extreme cleanliness were critical in the materials and installation to ensure the quality of the clinic’s results were maintained.
Although the centre shut down during the works the results more than doubled the capacity of the clinic and were extremely well received by staff and patients alike.
Ralph is a remarkable architect. We have now been working with him for over a decade on both private and commercial projects. His approach is the same irrespective of the budget. He is visionary yet practical, charming but efficient. Above all he has a wonderful sense of space and volume and can communicate his ideas and designs clearly. We have found him to be 100% focused on achieving our desired outcome but he knows when to diplomatically decline, or indeed enthusiastically embrace, our suggestions. He is (nearly) invariably correct.
Looking back at the various projects Ralph has developed for us the one constant feature of the finished article is timelessness. Our Healthcare clinic, designed nearly fifteen years ago, could have been handed over yesterday such is the contemporary impression it evokes. Whilst fashion rapidly changes no one want to work or live in an outdated environment and although we did not see it at the time, Ralph's designs continue to feel both relevant and attractive today.
Nathalie & Robert Forman
