West Port & Co. .

The physicality of the Circle Reading building is both luminous and reflective, fundamentally optimistic feeling, but also discreet and secure.‘We were able, with Circle Reading, to give the building an aesthetic which was beyond purely functional,’ says Wood..

Beyond its striking glass exterior, lies the building’s central atrium - a sleek, communal space, three stories high and full of light, which houses a reception and cafe, accompanying tables, leather sofas and modern artwork.It’s an area Orthopaedic Surgeon, Raj Goel jokingly, but admiringly, refers to as ‘the foyer.’ ‘Patients say, “Wow, what a great place to work in,”’ he says..The other Circle staff members seem to agree, united in their appreciation for this particularly special aspect of the hospital.

Maswiken enthuses about the sense of cleanliness one is given, casting a view across the space.Kirsty Cobden, a member of the Business Development Team who often holds events in the atrium, says she thinks the area’s aspirational, calm atmosphere has a direct effect on patients.

‘It doesn’t look like a hospital,’ she says, ‘so it puts them at ease as soon as they walk in… There’s a smell to hospitals.

Whereas when you walk in here, you’ve got the smell of the deli, of the food, of coffee.’.This is a revolution.

There used to be days when I felt like I was carrying a heavy backpack full of rocks uphill.But now there's an army behind me, a battalion.

There's like, countries with armies behind us.And I think you've probably felt the same way.