This outline study was prepared as the basis for the initial design discussions with the local Primary Care Trust on the kind of health centre that would be appropriate for the new settlement of Sherford being planned just outside Plymouth. The unit is planned right at the heart of community on the High Street and faces onto the main square, so it is on the principal bus route and within walking distance of about a thousand dwellings, as well as close to a wide range of town centre facilities. There is quite a substantial slope across the site, so while the main public entrance is on the lowest floor facing the square, there is a secondary entrance for staff and deliveries at upper ground floor level. The carparking is incorporated in a large courtyard at this upper level where it is hidden from the public streets.

So that the health centre is fully integrated into the mixed-use centre of Sherford, two shops and the unit's own pharmacy fill the whole of its lower ground floor frontage onto the High Street. Apart from the entrance facilities the rest of the accommodation is planned on the two upper floors: clinics, rehabilitation and mental illness unit on the upper ground floor; day case unit, diagnostics, dentistry, offices, support and training on the top floor. To give virtually all the rooms natural light and ventilation the building (planned at a depth of 12 metres) is arranged around two courts divided by the circular central stair.

These preliminary design ideas are no more than a starting point for the forthcoming discussions with the Health Authority and the users.