‘A beacon of excellence in healthcare design’… ‘a symbol of civic pride in our community’ … ‘a “state of the art” building’ … ‘a building which could be magnificently innovative and visionary in its time, location and conception’. These phrases, taken from the ‘Aspirational Statement’ that introduces the competition brief, should have left no one in any doubt that the clients for the proposed new integrated care centre in Kentish Town were looking for something new and different. With hindsight, it is easy to see why Allford Hall Monaghan Morris's (AHMM) unusual design [1a–c] won the competition.