Representatives from Nightingale Associates recently attended the opening of St Francis Hospice, a palliative care facility in Romford, Essex that the architectural practice has worked on as part of the King’s Fund “Enhancing the Healing Environment” programme.
Nightingale said the project had “pushed forward the boundaries in design innovation and recognised links between modern, bright environments and patients’ wellbeing and enjoyment of their surroundings”. The King’s Fund programme’s aim has been to encourage and enable local health teams to work in partnership with service users to improve the care environment. Saint Francis Hospice’s initial proposal was to refurbish its 22-year-old inpatient unit and other patient areas, build a small extension, and refurbish its 13-year-old Day Hospice. However, Nightingale Associates explored several options which reconfigured the internal layouts to make more use of existing spaces. The proposed extension became unnecessary, thus saving vital funding. Georgia Burt, designer at Nightingale Associates, and project leader, said: “One key enhancement has been to ensure the stunning landscape that envelopes the site can be enjoyed by more people. Part of the design brief also entailed ‘bringing the outside in’, undertaken through incorporating art into the design (see above). We’ve also created a large floor to ceiling double door in the living room, which provides fantastic views of the surrounding gardens.”
