A new four-storey building at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore which includes a children’s / young people’s ward, two adult acute wards and a private ward, play areas with a children’s activity centre, and a 15 m high reception and waiting atrium, ‘combines the latest health technology with architectural design and contemporary art to create colourful, welcoming patient and staff spaces’.
Art in fact features throughout, with contemporary sculptures in the atrium, poems and illustrations of flowers, birds, fish, and animals in the corridors, and photographs of nature behind the beds on each colour-themed floor. Alongside providing a visually appealing environment, Construction Specialities emphasises that surface finishes in healthcare facilities need to be hard-wearing, hygienic, and easy to clean and maintain. The images used behind all beds were thus incorporated into durable Acrovyn by Design murals, supplied by the firm.
Construction Specialities explained: “Acrovyn by Design incorporates high-resolution digital prints embedded on the reverse of the clear Acrovyn 4000 sheets. The sheet acts as a protective shield to the image, providing an impact- and scratch-resistant surface that is impervious and chemically-resistant, to cope with intensive cleaning, and eliminating the worry of damage to the surfaces and the artwork, without compromising the interior design.”
The images selected for the bedhead murals reflect the theme of nature used in the corridors, with a different predominant colour on each floor. Brightly coloured silhouettes of children playing outside were incorporated into the artwork on the children’s ward to add fun. In addition, vertical pairs of Acrovyn BL10V bedhead protectors were fitted behind each bed, providing additional wall protection against tough knocks over a range of bed heights.
Circulation areas feature over 370 m of ‘stylish’ Approved Document M and BS 8300-compliant HRBW50-N combined hand and crashrails to offer pedestrian support and impact protection, with an extra solid ash handrail placed lower down the walls of the children’s / young person’s ward.
In back-of-house and storage areas – where impact damage was a key concern – heavy duty SCR-50N Acrovyn 4000 crashrails feature at mid-wall height in corridors, textured Acrovyn 4000 Sheet on walls in storage areas, and Acrovyn SCG corner guards on vulnerable exterior corners.
Trudy Johnson, PMO Programme manager at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust, said: “The art and poetry in the corridors and wards is a key element of the interior design. It is great not have to worry about the murals in the wards and bedrooms getting damaged, so they will benefit everyone staying and working in the hospital for years to come.”
