London Institute for Healthcare Engineering

The London Institute for Healthcare Engineering (LIHE) is a state-of-the-art research hub on the bank of the Thames. A unique collaboration between medicine and education, designed to accelerate innovations and develop life-changing treatments of the future.

Client: King's College London
Location: London
Value: £32million

Services

Architecture
Interior design
Landscape architecture
Sustainability

Awards

Winner, 2026 UK RIBA London Award
Winner, Silver Award, Scottish Design Awards 2025, Health Building or Project
Winner, European Healthcare Design Awards 2025, Health & Life Sciences Award
Shortlisted, RIBA London (South East) Awards

Press

London Institute for Healthcare Engineering, HLM Architects, Evening, External Facade,

LIHE is a significant project for King’s, establishing a new MedTech Hub at Guy’s and St Thomas’s. HLM has taken the academic sponsor’s initial vision to create a centre for collaboration and innovation between the University, commercial and research partners and the NHS. HLM worked closely with both the academic cohort and the estates team to understand the detailed brief and translate it into a high-quality piece of architecture.

Simon Myles Associate Director King’s College London

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Nurturing collaboration through adaptable design

At LIHE, everything comes back to the impact on people’s lives. Embedded within Guy’s and St Thomas’, the innovation hub brings MedTech experts, medical teaching and clinical care together to accelerate treatments and take innovations from bench to bedside more quickly. By supporting entrepreneurs and researchers to move at pace, LIHE is helping to deliver breakthroughs that improve patient outcomes today, while building a foundation for healthcare that continues to evolve for generations to come.

We delivered a fully integrated design solution for LIHE. Our architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, conservation and masterplanning teams collaborated to realise a cohesive, future-proofed environment that supports innovation, wellbeing, and adaptability.

London Institute for Healthcare Engineering, HLM Architects, Architecture, External Facade in Sunset

London Institute for Healthcare Engineering, HLM Architects, Interior Design, Flexible Workspaces, Life Sciences

Sustainability

We set out to create a building that didn’t just meet sustainability standards but pushed well beyond them, far surpassing the sustainable outcomes for London Plan’s net zero carbon target. LIHE is further proof that with the right approach, world-class design can also deliver outstanding environmental performance.

By embedding passive design, circular economy principles, and adaptability at every stage, we’ve created spaces built to last. Features like demountable glazed partitions and air source heat pumps ensure flexibility and efficiency, while our Thoughtful Design toolkit informed user-centric design that enhances wellbeing and productivity, aligning sustainability with operational excellence and future-proofing the building’s performance.

Project data

BREEAM Excellent rating
EPC A Rating
Over 35% reduction in regulated carbon emissions beyond Part L 2021 London Plan’s net zero-carbon target

In focus
Interior design

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Central to LIHE is the ‘research ecosystem’ concept. We engaged with their diverse community of academics, clinicians, engineers, entrepreneurs, and industry specialists through our Thoughtful Design Toolkit. We discovered that researchers value stable temperatures, good ventilation, outside views, and biophilic features. Taking these key requirements we created a research centre that entices and inspires people, allowing LIHE’s community to thrive.

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Emphasising wellbeing and collaboration, our interior concept merges indoor and outdoor elements.

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Natural textures and tones create an expansive, healing environment and enhance our connection to nature.

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We continued the facade DNA pattern narrative through the interior ceilings and wall textures.

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Our interior design concept was inspired by LIHE’s values, blending human biology and human connection.

Throughout the interior our design seeks to create a journey that expresses the ever-changing form and flexibility of the spaces.

Andy Illingworth Head of Interior Design

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Together with the people who would work at LIHE, we envisioned more than just a building; we envisioned a living ecosystem where research excellence, clinical practice, and healthcare innovation thrives. The adaptability of our design encourages people to come together, and supports a variety of evolving working styles for many years to come.

Russell Whitby Technical Director

London Institute for Healthcare Engineering, HLM Architects, Interior Design, Higher Education Architects

Helix staircase

Our helix staircase is far more than a way to move between floors – it’s the spinal cord of the building. Inspired by the form of DNA, the staircase symbolises flow, connection, and the collaborative spirit of LIHE.

With platforms at every level, it creates opportunities for chance encounters, quick conversations, and informal meetings – all without disrupting focused work. As the building’s central spine, the staircase encourages people to come face-to-face, share ideas, and build connections across disciplines and floors. Both functional and symbolic, the staircase embodies collaboration and innovation – perfectly reflecting the pioneering research and medical advancements taking place within the building.