P+HS - Hopsital opens it's doors
The new £25 million Walkergate Park
Hospital in Newcastle, designed by P+HS Architects was
officially opened on Monday by Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson.
The hospital is one of the most advanced units of its
kind in Europe and has been purposely designed to treat
and support people with physical disabilities, mental
illness, or severe challenging behaviour caused by
injury or disease affecting the brain, spinal cord or
muscles with specialist and revolutionary expertise and
treatment.
With an extensive track record in delivering acute,
mental heath and primary care facilities across the UK,
P+HS Architects acted as the principal architect for the
new development working on behalf of development team
United Medical Enterprises Invetsments and Clugston
Construction. The new hospital was procured by the
Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Trust under the Private
Finance Initiative. P+HS Architects applied specific
expertise and sector knowledge to deliver a bespoke
environment that combines a desired image of clinical
excellence with a layout and features to support
wellbeing, dignity and healing enhancement.
The two storey building is a contemporary design that
uses warm tones of brickwork, render and cladding set
around enclosed landscaped therapy gardens. A wide,
curved and predominantly glazed application to the main
entrance promotes an open and welcoming arrival.
The ground floor entrance leads to facilities for
education, training and research, emphasising the
aspiration to be a centre of excellence. The therapy
department lies next to the main entrance for ease of
day care access, integrating physiotherapy, occupational
therapy and speech and language therapy. It contains
state of the art facilities including a hydrotherapy
pool.
The inpatient wards are situated towards the rear of the
site, providing 100% single bedroom accommodation to
ensure maximum privacy and dignity for patients. Also
incorporated are services for electronic aids
development, and the regional adapted vehicle test
track, where users can be assessed for their suitability
for driving on the road.
The outpatients department is located over the main
entrance on the first floor to ensure ease of access.
Adjacent to this are the Regional Disability Team and
the Community Multiple Sclerosis Team. A roof terrace
allows patients immediate access to the outdoors. Office
space is also allocated on this floor.
A key feature of the hospital is the art installation
that forms a critical part of the Healing Arts programme
for the NHS. P+HS Architects engaged with the Arts
Council for several artists to provide a range of
installations using a £150,000 budget, for example a new
multi faith chapel, sculptures that stimulate the
senses, light, sound and colour used creatively
throughout the building to signal changes of use and
identify facilities, and planted walls in the landscape
to encourage interaction through touch.
Set in the heart of the site and enclosed by the
building for a sense of privacy and security is the
therapy gardens. Specific garden areas are designed to
stimulate the senses and provide an opportunity to
soften the treatment experience. A visual presentation
of quality and sensitivity is designed to relate to
pleasure and emotion rather than the essential clinical
impressions that will inevitably be gained by users and
visitors.
This theme has been pivotal in the design of the centre,
which has created three main garden areas: a large
courtyard garden, which is sensitively divided into both
private ward gardens more public areas relating to the
main entrance area; a smaller courtyard garden which
will be used more for exercise and assessment of
movement capabilities; and a working garden for the
therapeutic cultivation of plants, fruit and vegetables.
Bill Murray, Chair of the RIBA Health Client Forum said
‘healing environments, single rooms, arts programmes,
quality landscaping and the innovating use of old health
care sites are all important ingredients in modern
health care design. The new £25 million Walkergate Park
Centre in Newcastle has all of these blended into a most
exciting rehabilitation campus’.
Phil Bentley, Project Architect for Walkergate Park at
P+HS Architects comments ‘It is wonderful to see
Walkergate Hospital completed and ready to provide
outstanding medical care. The design of the building is
unique and includes many special features that will
improve the quality of life for many of the patients,
and we hope it will create a benchmark for future
innovation in hospitals’.
P+HS Architects specialises in the design of facilities
for health, residential, education and commercial
clients in the private and public sectors and is
currently working on a number of new hospitals and
healthcare centre’s, such as Washington Primary Care
Centre in Sunderland and Eaglescliffe Health Centre in
Stockton on Tees.
Email:
marie@frenchpr.co.uk
Arundel Jones Associates Ltd
Hill Farm, Linton Hill, Maidstone, Kent ME17 4AL
Tel : 01622 745333
news@buildingdesign.co.uk
Registered in England and Wales No. 07334149
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