Sharon Cook, Healthcare lead at P+HS Architects, reflects on how the 10 WELL Concept areas were embedded into the design of the Northumbria Health and Care Academy, the UK’s first healthcare building to achieve WELL Gold certification, creating a workplace that the practice says ‘champions wellbeing, connection, and clinical excellence’.
In a ground-breaking move, the Northumbria Health and Care Academy, alongside P+HS Architects, has set a new standard for healthcare facility design, prioritising staff wellbeing. Situated in the grounds of the Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital (NSECH) in Cramlington, Northumberland, and built by Meldrum Group (with Hilson Moran as WELL-Accredited Professionals on the scheme), the Academy has become the UK's first healthcare building to earn the prestigious WELL Gold certification from the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI).
The Academy also clinched the Salus Healthy Workplace Award at the 2024 Healthy City Design Conference, a testament to its innovative approach. Working to the WELL standard has been a forward-thinking move from the developer, Assura, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, and the project team, acknowledging that the Health and Care Academy is not just a healthcare building, but also a workplace.
The Academy creates a base for an innovative co-location of services, making for a sustainable overall development. The 8,000 m2 building includes a centre of training excellence for nursing, midwifery, and allied health professionals — such as physiotherapists, radiographers, podiatrists, and occupational therapists, plus conference facilities, office space, and meeting rooms. The ground floor is occupied by a GP practice, which has relocated its services from a nearby outdated premises, also providing a base for community health professionals. Not only does the new Health and Care Academy create an exciting opportunity to strengthen the health workforce, it also provides a state-of-the-art primary care facility and workplace. The WELL standard is described by the IWBI as 'a vehicle for buildings and organisations to deliver more thoughtful and intentional spaces that enhance human health and well-being'.1 The ethos of the standard — which we have tried to take on board as designers, is to create a project where wellbeing is embedded, being not just 'building-focused', but also 'people-focused', and that this is incorporated from the early design stages.
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