How photography gave users of Stonefield House a sense of belonging in their new facilities.

Nightingale Associates is passionate about designing buildings that not only cater for the individual needs of its users, but also improve their general wellbeing. It is imperative that a building can fulfil its function and also makes its occupants feel comfortable in their surroundings. Art-therapy is a fantastic way of expressing oneself creatively and helping an individual’s personal development. In their latest project, Nightingale Associates have combined art-therapy with interior design to create a contemporary new mental health/rehabilitation ward for St George’s Hospital, Stafford, called Stonefield House.

A winning image showing just how creative therapy can be

The stigma surrounding mental health and rehabilitation units is not unfounded. Historically, units were very clinical and unwelcoming, with limited facilities and schemes to help patients enjoy their time in recovery. However, times have changed; hospitals and numerous charities in the UK now provide the funding to make facilities more comfortable for patients, and offer more opportunities to improve the quality of life and rehabilitation for those who need it. Nightingale Associates have been working with both NHS and private hospitals for 20 years to improve the design of hospitals to cater for patients’ special needs.

Working with the trust, Nightingale’s decided to incorporate the artistic talents of Stonefield’s users into the design to create an inviting and personalised environment. Users were encouraged to take part in a photographic competition which would be turned into wall-art for display in communal areas.
Over the course of four sessions, the users were taught how to use the cameras and were permitted to enter the building during its construction to capture interesting shots of the building process. Under the guidance of staff and occupational therapists’, they selected 12 of their favourite images to be turned into art. The images have been printed in monochrome, with certain features picked out in colour to fit in with the interior design. The striking images give a real sense of the users’ perspectives and will be mounted in the room from where they were taken to give a sense of ‘before and after’.

View from Stonefield House overlooking construction site

By letting patients go behind the scenes and actively selecting the wall-art not only helps them to feel at ease with the new facilities, but also helps to create a more comfortable and homely environment. The use of photography in this way is known as “Therapeutic Photography” – photography conducted by individuals for artistic and creative exploration. It differs from “Phototherapy” which is the use of photographs within the framework of formal therapy, for example, during counselling.

To continue this artistic venture, when the LSU (Low Secure Unit) reopens in October 2010, users will be able to take part in a weekly art group, which will be self-funded. Installing an art activity programme for users is a great way for them to get to know each other in an informal and sociable setting. Many of the users stay in the facility any time from a few days, up to 2-3 years, so there is a regular client group to work with. The majority of Stonefield users are male and are aged between 18 and 80; therefore trying to design a building and find activities to suit everyone is problematic. However, because art is generally thought of as a universal pastime, people of all ages can enjoy it. Using photography is especially stimulating to male users as it is considered as a particularly masculine-friendly art form and was a fun way to launch the scheme.

Users had the opportunity to capture the construction team at work

In general, artistic therapy is a worthwhile practice that can be applied to our daily lives. Developing your own artistry (in any medium, whether through photography, sculpting, drawing or painting) allows individuals to express themselves in a positive way, helping to relieve stress and increase self-esteem. And if anything, art helps people to escape from day-to-day life and focus their attention on one task, which is a difficult thing to do when juggling priorities and having so many distractions in life.

The Stonefield House ward, part of the Michael Flanagan building, along with a £30 million redevelopment project for Shelton Hospital, is Nightingale’s seventh project for their client, South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. The £3.2 million ward was built as part of a two-phase project in which an existing building is being re-used as the main hub of the scheme. The colourful new ward has a contemporary feel, with wood floors, bright furniture and large windows to make the most of the natural light.

A room with a view

In pursuit of good design and innovation, Nightingale Associates hope to enter this project for the 2011 BBH (Building Better Healthcare) Awards for Best Use of Visual Art in Healthcare as well as Best Interior and Best Sustainable Design categories. Thanks to a strong relationship with the Trust and their commitment to good mental health design, Nightingale Associates was shortlisted for Best Interiors in Mental Health in 2008, and were also highly commended in the Product Design category for the Norbury Lounge Chair.

The photographic artwork was created with the assistance of Brighton based company, alonglines.

Clean, lean, safe and green are this year’s themes for the Healthcare Estates annual IHEEM conference where Nightingale is presenting a paper.

Richard Mazuch, director of Design Research and Innovation, will be talking about ‘Re-thinking space – Innovative approaches for inpatient accommodation’.

The last 12 months have seen unprecedented changes in our political and economic situation, making the challenges facing healthcare estates bigger than ever before. The paper will describe three innovative approaches developed by Nightingale Associates for the provision of Inpatient accommodation for both existing and new build healthcare settings.

Re-use and refurbishment within the existing estate

BedPod

Developing a lean estate is now more important than ever. Trusts have to find more affordable ways of upgrading their existing accommodation.

Nightingale Associates, with partners SAS International and Billings Jackson Design, have developed the BedPod as part of the Design Council ‘Design for Patient Dignity’ programme funded by the Department of Health. To provide same-sex accommodation, the current solution involves major ward or hospital refurbishment at significant capital cost, downtime and loss of beds. By utilising existing space within wards, the BedPod provides same-sex accommodation at a fraction of the cost.

The BedPod offers a uniquely flexible solution for providing Inpatient bed space. Developed for minor or major works and as a temporary or permanent measure, the BedPod is a prefabricated, modular product that offers simplified procurement, minimal disruption and no loss of beds. Manufactured to the highest quality, its modularity enables choice in initial specification and facilitates replacement and upgrade over time to minimise obsolescence.

Moreover the BedPod aims to create a sense of patient empowerment, offering increased control and improving patient dignity. It is also designed to improve the healing environment by increasing sensory engagement and helping to control the spread of infection.

Providing the right Inpatient accommodation is about understanding the context and applying the right solution. This approach provides the Estate Manager with flexible solutions that respond to reoccurring issues, whilst making the most of any investment.

100% Single room accommodation

Ysbyty Aneurin Bevan, aerial sketch perspective

As the debate continues as to whether single bed accommodation is the future of the NHS, Nightingale Associates (with their Supply Chain Partner, BAM) are about to complete the first purpose designed 100% Single Room hospital in Wales. The 96 bed hospital in Ebbw Vale for The Aneurin Bevan NHS Trust, delivered via the Designed for Life: Building for Wales Framework, will be receiving patients by October 2010. The proposed ward layouts were developed in close consultation with the Trust team, patient groups and stakeholders to ensure cost effectiveness, staff efficiency, optimal observation, patient control, as well as patient privacy and dignity. Best practice, current guidance and full scale mock-ups have been utilised during the design development process.

Multi-bed bay accommodation

Cruciform ward layout

Nightingale Associate’s experience in the healthcare market underlines that providing 100% single room accommodation is often unaffordable or inappropriate for the intended purpose or patient group. To address this problem, Nightingale’s havedeveloped the cruciform ward to provide a cost effective, staff efficient and patient centred alternative to current multi-bed bay models.

The cruciform ward layout is configured to emphasise individual bed heads for each patient, thereby creating a sense of personal space and controlling the spread of infection. The innovative layout provides for the integration of en-suite sanitary accommodation as well as areas for informal seating and/or patient dining. The ward can be deployed with varying percentages of single room accommodation. The cruciform ward has been successfully developed for the recently completed Phase V, Princess Elizabeth Hospital, Guernsey and the new Peterborough City Hospital due for completion in the autumn 2010.

Healthcare Estates is the largest and most influential institution in the UK. The conference is taking place in Manchester Central from 5^th-6^th October 2010.

As the new Peterborough City Hospital approaches practical completion this Summer, the Trust’s art steering group, including Nightingale Associates representatives, has chosen two artists to provide artwork for selected areas of the new-build.

Nightingale Associates discussing the project. Stills taken from the planning film by Living Projects.

Dan Savage and Linda Schwab have been selected to provide wall and glazing treatments throughout Peterborough’s new City Hospital, which has been designed by Nightingale Associates under contractor, Brookfield Construction (UK) Ltd.

Incorporating art into the healing environments is more than hanging aesthetic pictures on the walls; for Peterborough & Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust it’s been a two-year long programme, providing the opportunity to create an appealing healthcare environment as well as building identity for individual departments and aiding wayfinding.

The artist selection process has come to fruition following two years of planning. Dan Savage will provide wall and glazing treatments in the children’s out-patient department, adolescent in-patient, emergency centre, bereavement suite centre and NICU.

Dan Savage will provide wall and glazing treatments in the children’s out-patient department, adolescent in-patient, emergency centre, bereavement suite centre and NICU.

Linda Schwab will provide artwork for haematology and oncology unit, waiting area, children’s waiting day treatment unit, children’s waiting area in the head and neck unit and glazing in the faith centre. 

Linda Schwab will provide artwork for haematology and oncology unit, waiting area, children’s waiting day treatment unit.

The locations identified by Nightingale Associates’ architects and the Trust as priority areas for artistic embellishment were chosen according to the service they provide – or particular needs for patients, staff and visitors.

Nightingale Associates’ Interior Design Lead, Elizabeth Petrovitch, believes the effect of artwork upon children’s recovery cannot be underestimated.

Nightingale Associates’ Interior Design Lead, Elizabeth Petrovitch, said: “The children’s departments feature high in the priority art areas as the effect of artwork and bright colour themes upon children’s recovery cannot be underestimated.”

Freelance arts consultant, Emma Larkinson, has been employed by the Trust. She has helped put together a longlist of artists. She is also a member of the arts steering group including Trust representatives, Nightingale Associates, contractor representatives and user groups members. But it wasn’t as simple as picking the best three artists by a demographic vote; other factors had to be considered.

“There are always challenges for artists working in public contexts,” says Emma, “Within healthcare there are limitations that come with restricted use of materials.  In addition there are often strongly held identities for wards and groups of staff and patients, which means there is often a directional design brief. The best artists are those that are able to identify the opportunity for a creative response that results in a unique environment that people can relate to.’

The art needed to respond to the building’s natural lighting and design features. It needed to be engaging, potentially educational, flexible and able to respond to different environments within the hospital – as well as meeting the relevant technical specifications and infection control methods.

The new hospital offers new facilities but also a refreshed visual language for the healthcare environment.  Wayfinding and orientation are a key area of the patient experience and this has been addressed by the wayfinding and interior design strategy.  A positive contribution to a locally relevant design language has been made by Nightingale Associates in their design of wayfinding symbols.

Wayfinding symbols designed by Nightingale Associates.

Not only do these art projects contribute to the patient experience, they have also provided the opportunity for staff to engage with arts practitioners in order to express and explore key areas of interest through art commissions – resulting in more unique work environments. 

Wayfinding symbols designed by Nightingale Associates reflect buildings of local importance.

While visual arts form the backbone of the arts strategy, the new hospital’s relationship with the community it serves through the building’s art and other activities has been explored.  Students from a local school  are creating paintings for particularly areas, temporary exhibitions and installations will be incorporated through partnerships with the local museum and art gallery and even hospital staff are creating artwork for the staff spaces.

There will also be a local photography competition based around wayfinding themes and an arts film by Richard Mullane at ‘Living Projects’  using local landscapes and communities. 

“A well considered piece of art can instill feelings of hope, comfort, reflection and joy. It is a window out of the highly functional world of the hospital, a break from the thoughts and feelings associated with a hospital visit,” adds Elizabeth.

The art is planned to be installed by the end of the year but the art programme will continue through the Trust after the handover in Autumn.

From the top, images show Nightingale ’s Matthias Peretz, Elizabeth Petrovitch and Emma White discussing the project. Stills taken from the planning film by Living Projects; Dan Savage’s artwork; Linda Schwab’s artwork; wayfinding symbols designed by Nightingale Associates 

The coalition Government has created uncertainty for architects. UK chancellor George Osborne has announced that £1.7bn of contracts across all sectors will be delayed or stopped to achieve £6.2bn of savings. Even the role of architecture minister is changeable with Ed Vaizey only being in office for four days before John Penrose took over.

As architects await a government decision on the Building Schools for the Future £1.2bn second phase, as reported in BD, Building deputy editor, Sarah Richardson, commented, “The coalition has stated that it will review spending commitments made since January using its own value for money criteria, and it’s obvious that the £55bn earmarked for schools renewal is not going to survive this process unscathed.”

Head of the British Council for School Environments, Ty Goddard, considers the newly launched coalition programme for government that shares some more detail about schools policy and the rumoured cuts to the Building Schools for the Future budget in the video below.

As part of chancellor George Osbourne’s £6.25bn savings plan, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has been ordered to save £836m by reviewing several projects including investment into science facilities. This contrasts US president, Barack Obama,  who committed to investing in research and development upon his inauguration last year. Concern has also arisen about targets for zero-carbon homes by 2016, which have not been included in the new Coalition government deal. While the healthcare sector has been spared in the first round of spending cuts, it’s unclear how Tories and the Lib Dems could change the NHS, as questioned by the BBC. 

Beyond spending cuts, RIBA has outlined their new priorities for the new government:

• Construction sector and architecture in the new economy – the construction sector forms 10% of GDP and is the second largest in the European Union. The RIBA believes that construction, and in particular architecture, should form a principal plank of a new economy. The Government needs to ensure that we maintain the skills and expertise that make us a respected world leader and capitalise on the opportunities for growth, both at home and abroad.
• More and better homes – delivery of new homes where they are needed and a concerted effort to improve the standard of new homes to address the current market failure in housing.
• Sustainability - A major retrofit programme for both domestic and non-domestic buildings in order that the UK can meet its carbon targets. We need stringent new-build performance standards and improved post-occupancy evaluation.
• Positive localism – strengthened local government backed by the resources and skills required to deliver the great places and spaces we need. Any implementation of a more local system needs to guarantee that communities have the opportunity to help create a positive vision for their area and ensure that NIMBY-ism is not the default option

What do you think are the priorities for the new government? How will spending cuts affect the architectural industry? Tell us what you think.

Downing Street image used via Flickr courtesy of cornfed1975 under Creative Commons licensing.

Created for the ‘Open Brief’ category of the Design Council’s ‘Design for Patient Dignity Challenge’ and for the Department of Health, the BedPod was unveiled last week.

The aim of the Design Council scheme is to improve patient experience in hospital with particular emphasis on the separation of male and female patients through innovative product and service design. If you missed the Design Council’s exhibition from 23-25 March 2010 of the resulting designs, here is a collection of images and video of the event and the design process.

Created by Nightingale Associates, in collaboration with Billings Jackson Design and SAS International, the BedPod is an innovative ‘conversion kit’, providing a fully-integrated bed environment, which offers greater privacy and, ultimately, patient dignity. It provides for the needs of the patient in the 21st-century, improving patient experience and helping to create a healing environment.

The BedPod is a prefabricated, high-quality modular product that can be rapidly installed with minimum disturbance and minimum loss of beds, offering a Trust more control and flexibility to release space within their estate. The product aims to create a sense of patient empowerment, allowing more control over lighting and privacy as well as improving acoustics around the bed. It is a flexible solution that can be utilised as a temporary or permanent measure in hospitals, creating a private space – even within a multi-bed ward environment. 

An integrated modesty screen enables patients to choose participation or ‘peace and quiet’. Its distinctive curved form provides acoustic reflection and absorption, which offers the patient an improved acoustic environment in and around the bed. A number of integrated lighting solutions also allow general room lighting to be reduced to promote rest.

For more information, visit www.bed-pod.co.uk

Issues of climate change and sustainability are at the forefront of international concern. The recent Copenhagen Climate Summit failed to secure a binding, legislative agreement, but the Copenhagen Accord did recognise scientific evidence showing carbon emissions need to be reduced and rising temperatures limited to an increase of 2^oC. While the failure to secure a legally binding treaty was criticised by some, progress is being made towards making our world more sustainable – especially with regard to building design.

“There is  a lot being done at a national level to help improve new buildings, not only to provide statutory requirements but also to educate and raise awareness of the issue, for example, the recent Eco-Build conference in London, the WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) initiative, the introduction of non-domestic zero-carbon building targets from 2016 to 2019, depending on building type and the increases in building regulation requirements,” says Nightingale Associates’ architect and director of design, research and innovation, David Rowley.

“However it is important to keep up the pressure up on how we can most effectively improve the existing building stock in cost efficient ways,” he adds.  “One way that could help, would be to get all local authorities to do surveys of housing in their areas, which could then be used to produce a map to show graphically the existing standards.

“Effort and finances could then be targeted at actions that could make the most impact, such as aiming to improve cavity wall insulation to a whole terrace in one go to reduce costs. Energy performance certificates, grants, council tax rebates, cuts in VAT on energy saving improvement refurbishment work etc. could also be considered to increase incentives for home owners.”

The Architects’ Journal rounded-up world leaders’ reactions to the Copenhagen Climate Summit, including UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon’s, who said: ‘The accord delivered by the Copenhagen climate talks is hardly far-reaching [but is] better than nothing.’ Gordon Brown said, ‘a new global body dedicated to environmental stewardship is needed [in order to prevent the deadlock which] undermined the Copenhagen climate change summit’. Barack Obama was more optimistic however, saying the climate change accord pact was ‘a great step forward’ and an ‘important breakthrough’. But what does this mean for architects and building design?

Nightingale Associates' architect and design research and innovation director, David Rowley.

“There is a lot of ‘green wash’ going around, where people are doing things just to show they are ‘green’, without being logical about the choices,” says David.

“Clients need to consider if they are serious about the sustainability agenda, and if so, how far do they want to take it. Is it a case of just satisfying statutory and funding approval requirements?” he asks.

Government initiatives are providing more and more guidelines, statutory requirements and incentives to build sustainably. For instance, the Carbon Reduction Commitment (now titled the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme) will be introduced next month (April 2010) to target all organisations using more than 6,000MWh per year of electricity (equivalent to an annual electricity bill of about £500,000). Other initiatives include green house building money-back incentives and a government target of 11% non-domestic buildings to be zero-carbon by 2019.

But, far from making building design more complex, David believes: “The aim should be to keep the design simple, to minimise the need for technical solutions and make the building comfortable and easy to operate”.

“Taking sustainable measures also means, where appropriate or possible, improving the efficiency of the building’s use, this is where the sensible use of items such as daylight and occupancy sensors and automatic opening vents, with occupant overrides can be beneficial,” he adds.

Sustainable architecture seeks to improve efficiency and provide appropriate use of materials and the output of energy. While the Government Client Construction Panel’s (GCCP) Sustainability Action Plan originally noted that from 2003 all new buildings required by Government departments are to achieve a BREEAM – (or equivalent) ‘Excellent’ rating and major refurbishments at least a ‘Very Good’ rating, many buildings have not achieved this. However, with constantly increasing regulations and commitments, environmentally responsible building design requirements will need to be applied to every new building from the outset and retrofitting of existing buildings needs to be well-targeted.

As a member of the steering group behind BREEAM Healthcare, David believes the solutions should not be geared to a “tick box mentality”; architects need to think laterally to provide flexible solutions that are specific to the situation. “Sustainable buildings need to maximise the use of daylight and natural ventilation where appropriate. But they also need to allow for change,” continues David.

“The approach to high-quality sustainable design has many similarities irrespective of type, location and budget. This includes the commitment of all parties from the client to the design team, the contractor and, ultimately, the user. There is a need to consider practical sustainability aspects from the outset of any building project to be able to assess effective measures early.”

Gateway Sixth Form College in Leicester uses photovoltaics, solar shading, a wind turbine, and a prominent glazed plant room with bio mass boiler as part of its 'visible' sustainability concept.

What does this mean in practical terms? “Initially, decisions can fall into three main groups,” David explains, “Firstly, quick wins. These are sustainable actions that have negligible, reduced or no capital costs, for example, building orientation, off-site prefabrication, use of locally produced materials, recycling of site waste and use of timber certified as being responsibly sourced.

“Secondly, sustainable actions that require increased capital costs but which have a reasonable payback, for example, increasing insulation values, low wattage light fittings, specifying dual 6/4 litre flush toilets and aerated taps.

“Thirdly, sustainable actions that require increased capital costs but may not have a reasonable payback, for instance, the use of wool insultation, solar panels, photovoltaics, micro-wind generation and providing rainwater recycling.

“Some of the options in options one and two may already be required,” David continues, “Ultimately, it’s worth considering what life-cost and commercial benefits would be gained from additional improvements and what payback is required. Some items in the third option may be moved to the second option by government incentives and grants, and some may be necessary to comply with onsite renewable energy generation requirements,” he concludes.

Below are examples of three of our recent projects that help show how building type, locations and budgets can influence design (please click on the images for more information).

Gateway Sixth Form College, Leicester

Alltwen Community Hospital, Porthmadog

Golden Jubilee Wing PFI, King’s College Hospital, London

Further information:

For further information on the BREEAM schemes and an article comparing BREEAM International with LEED (highlighting cases where LEED points were insufficient and out of place for the locality) see their web site.

For further examples of Nightingale Associates’ schemes and their sustainability aspects, please refer to the services/environmental section on our web site.

Nightingales Associates has held two sustainability conferences for its staff and clients. PowerPoint presentations from both can be viewed on the website. For a DVD of Nightingale Associates first conference in 2007 please contact David Rowley. Copies are limited, so early requests are recommended.

Wind turbine image used via Creative Commons licensing, courtesy of Christiaan Conover.

It causes changes in mood, judgement, personality, and makes it difficult to communicate or cope with day to day tasks. And it usually gets worse over time. By 2020, it is estimated over a million of us will suffer from such symptoms – caused by dementia.  

Dementia can start as early as 40. With about one in every 20 people over-65 suffering from it, by the age of 80 about one in five are affected. Yet care provisions and older adult facilities have been identified in the Draft of the Health Building Notes as largely unfit for purpose. Clearly, building design must respond to the demand for quality dementia provisions and care facilities.  

Can Gerry Robinson Fix Dementia Care Homes? - asked BBC One recently.

Care and treatment for sufferers of dementia should be at the heart of the general election campaign, the Alzheimer’s Society charity told the BBC. As the press continues to reveal the flaws in elderly care – specifically in relation to dementia care – how is building design working to improve provisions and facilitate a better healthcare service for older people? 

A report by the Alzheimer’s Research Trust and University of Oxford released yesterday, titled Dementia 2010, reveals dementia as the greatest medical challenge of our age.

In an interview with the Telegraph, Andrew Harrop, head of public policy for Age Concern and Help the Aged, said: “A world class health service should be one that responds to the needs and preferences of those who need it most. 

“Older people are the largest users of healthcare services, yet we are a long way off from seeing their needs at the heart of decision making in the NHS. 

“Our research shows that above all, older people’s definition of quality does not always match the performance regime laid out by politicians.”

Campaigners claim half of all dementia patients treated in hospital end up in a worse state. However, new mental health facilities recognising the need for specially designed environments for older people’s care are being built, which alleviate conditions rather than aggravate them. One of these facilities is Nightingale Associates’ recently opened £7m older people’s unit at St. James Hospital in Portsmouth, which provides a dedicated organic and dementia provision. 

The Limes is a 36-bed specially designed mental health unit for older people. The building has been designed to house patients with different needs in separate wards as well as providing separate male and female sleeping accommodation. A 14-bed ward is designed for functional patients while there is a 22-bed ward for organic patients. Further sub-wards allow patients with challenging behavior to be specially monitored. 

To support the wards there is a central therapy area, staff facilities and an entrance area for staff and visitors. Each ward has its own secure garden for patient recreation and a central therapy garden for patients to carry out therapy tasks under the supervision of an occupational therapist. 

The situation of the building  in a tranquil parkland setting with little passing traffic on the existing hospital site will assist patient therapy with the ability for patients to both see and access secluded secure outside spaces is a key requirement of patient care. 

Other features include central shared day space areas and seating areas at intervals to provide rest places for patients along corridors, which also provide amenity spaces for use by patients who need safe wandering spaces. Ultimately, the layout of the building has been designed to meet the clinical need of the patients and to provide a warm, safe and easily accessible unit which affords both views and access to the surrounding landscape. 

Currently in the design stages, the £23.75m mental health unit at Aylesbury’s Manor House hospital is another new development proposed to provide 40 beds for older people, split into two 20-bed wards: one for dementia patients, the other for functional illness. The other 40 beds will be for adults of working age and will again be split into two 20-bed wards: one female and one male. 

With some patients potentially staying up to six weeks at a time in the facility, key elements taken into account when producing the layout were: the changes in level, the existing roads and approach to the building across the site – and the views out across the landscape. 

Clinical relationships of each department have been assessed at all stages of the design process and are of paramount importance to allow the hospital to function in an efficient and therapeutic manner. High traffic areas such as the café, PALS, multi-faith and tribunal rooms have been located close to the main entrance to minimise travel distances and also to ensure privacy to the wards that have been located furthest away from the main entrance. 

Due to complete in December 2011, the demand to provide similar dedicated dementia care facilities is almost certain to increase. “As the average age of people in the developed world steadily increases, the numbers of people needing support and treatment for dementia means that this issue is the ‘elephant in the room’ – being studiously avoided by most governments,” says founder of Nightingale Associates, Mike Nightingale. 

The RIBA robot is a Japanese invention aimed at assisting hospital nurses.

“Japan has, perhaps, the most acute manifestation of this growing phenomenon, because of their genetic longevity (highest proportion of people of 100+ in the world) and lack of immigration,” he continues, “One interesting response in Japan is to use technology to help solve the problem.  An example of this, is the development of a very attractive small robot in the shape of a ‘Snoopy dog’ that is programmed to follow patients with dementia with a camera linked to a bank of screens at the ‘Nurses Station’, so that busy nursing staff are able to monitor up to 20 patients simultaneously. 

“With the balance of cost and availability of young carers to rapidly increasing numbers of sick elderly people this sort of lateral thinking has a lot of promise,” Mike concludes. 

Whether or not we can use advances in technology and robotics to bridge the gaps in older people’s care, as the population continues to grow, the need to respond to the demand for elderly care provisions and facilities will be important not only to governments, but to all of us as potential end users. 

Further reading: 

An Interactive Robot in a Nursing Home: Preliminary Remarks provides an interesting read on the use of robotics to aid the elderly population.

Nightingale Associates scooped the Patient Environment Class Award for Best Interior Design of the Centre of Neuromuscular Diseases at UCLH at this year’s Building Better Healthcare (BBH) Awards.

The annual BBH Awards celebrate excellence, innovation and professionalism in the healthcare built environment, looking specifically at building design, the patient environment, people, products and estates and facilities management.

The winning project, the Centre for Neuromuscular Diseases at UCLH, was extensively refurbished earlier this year to provide a stimulating and modern environment in which to conduct specialist scientific research. The centre, which is located in an early twentieth-century central London building, has a ‘contemporary fitting in the classical shell’ design theme, displaying a unique mix of modern architectural design concepts with many carefully-restored original features.

The judging panel recognised the scheme specifically for its interior design, which enhanced the original features of the building and created a contemporary clean impression of the front of house, ensuring patients’ comfort and a pleasant working environment for staff.  As a building that facilitates advanced research into its fields, the design needed to be clean, modern and able to accommodate the most up-to-date research technology.

London Office Principal, Neil Murphy, said:

“The success of this scheme can be attributed to teamwork and a clear collective vision from the outset of the project. Our primary aim was to raise the aspirations of not only the centre’s visitors, patients and staff but all building users. This has successfully been achieved through the harmonious interface of both existing and contemporary features.”

Full results:

• Patient Environment Class Award for Best Interior Design: Centre for Neuromuscular Diseases at UCLH, Nightingale Associates
• Patient Environment Class Awards for Best External Space: Langley Green Hospital, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
• Patient Environment Class Award for Best Use of Visual Art in Healthcare: Arts Programme, Bristol Heart Institute – University Hospitals of Bristol NHS Foundation Trust
• Product Class Award for Best Exterior Product: SAS Modular Solutions, SAS International
• Product Class Award for Best Interiors Product: Dyson Airblade^TM Hand Dryer, Dyson Limited
• Product Class Award for Best Ecological Product: High Efficiency, long-life, low charge natural refrigerant cooling – STAR Refrigeration
• Estate & Facilities Management Class Award for Best Facilities Management Service: Central & North West London NHS Foundation Trust Facilities Team
• Estates & Facilities Management Class Award for Best Estate Service: Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, Estate Strategy & Plan
• Estates & Facilities Management Class Award for Best Sustainable Estates Strategy in Acute Care: Sustainable Communities – South Staffordshire & Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
• Estates & Facilities Management Class Award for Best Sustainable Estates Strategy in Primary Care: The Cwm Gwyrdd Medical Centre, Cwm Taf Health Board
• People Class Award for Best Project Team: Wandsworth Recovery Centre, Springfield University Hospital, MAAP Architects
• People Class Award for Design Champion of the Year: Dr Roy Macgregor, Partner to the James Wigg Practice
• Building Design Class Award for Best Primary Care Design: Kentish Town Health Centre, Allford Hall Monaghan Morris
• Building Design Class Award for Best Community Care Design: Newton Abbey Community Hospital, Murphy Philipps Architects
• Building Design Class Award for Best Residential Care Design: Yew Tree Lodge, Hillingdon, Duggan Morris Architects
• Building Design Class Award for Best End-of-Life Care Design: Trinity Hospital, tp bennett
• Building Design Class Award for Best Mental Health Design: Oak and Beech Units, Hertfordshire Partnerships NHS Foundation Trust
• Building Design Class Award for Best Sustainable Design: The Cwm Gwyrdd Medical Centre, GPI
• Building Design Class Award for Best International Design: Akershus University Hospital, C.F. Møller Architects
• Building Design Class Award for Best Hospital Design: New Stobhill Hospital, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, Reiach and Hall Architects

Judges’ Special Award

White Lodge Centre, Treetops & Rendezvous Broadway Malyan

Skypad: Teenage Cancer Trust Unit (TCT), The Cardiff and Vale University Local Health Board

Lifetime Achievement Award for Services to the Healthcare Environment

Ann Noble PhD. BArch, Dip Arch, MA Sociology, Dip. Town Planning, RIBA

The senior judging panel consisted of: Design consultant, Jane Priestman OBE, RENEW Northwest’s Beatrice Fraenkel, Research fellow of the Helen Hamlyn Centre at Royal College of Art, Ed Matthews, National Chairman of HEFMA, Kevin Oxley, Special Advisor for Health at the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), Susan Francis.

The awards, which have been running for eleven years, received a record 156 entries this year. The winners were revealed at a grand awards ceremony on 12th November 2009 at the Brewery in London.

Train 2000 Ltd, supported by its partners Liverpool City Council and Liverpool Vision, are developing the centre, with design by Nightingale Associates.

The 2,000sqm centre is the first of its kind in the UK and will be located in the heart of Liverpool and is expected to help 3,000 women set up businesses, creating 4,500 new jobs over the next ten years.

The new-build project, to be completed in late 2010, will contain a range of offices, training & conference facilities and incubator space for new businesses. It is being jointly-funded by WICED, the North West Development Agency, Future Builders, Train 2000, Liverpool Vision, and Liverpool Council.