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Artwork, Interiors, and Design


murals. We also showed the choice of fonts for the poems, as well as for all the signage throughout the hospital. The workshops were all


carefully structured to ensure that service-users could be as engaged as they wanted to be, with activities pitched at an accessible level which could be explored further if the participants wished. The Trust set the tone for the collaboration, with a clear explanation at the start of each session of what the workshop was about, that it was a safe place, and that everyone’s opinion was valid.


rest of the palette very neutral. “Service-users who


One of Alison Milner’s striking river-themed wall panels, installed in a ward quiet room.


ENGAGEMENT AT ‘A DEEP LEVEL’ “Very powerful conversations came out of the consultation process. Service-users were open and ready to engage on a very deep level,” reflected Gerd Sortland. “It was very much a collaborative process – collaboration with the service-users, with the staff at West London Mental Health NHS Trust, with Sue Mayfield and Ali Brown, who ran the workshops, and with Alison Milner, the artist who designed the unit’s artwork.” The end-result is a truly unified approach to


art and interior design, including ward naming, signage, and identity, that has been genuinely informed by service-user participation.


INTERIOR DESIGN, COLOUR CHOICE, AND WAYFINDING Alison Milner was selected from shortlisted artists, and commissioned to work with David Morley Architects to create a colour palette and signage for the new unit influenced by the service-user engagement. She was also commissioned to design graphic imagery and artworks linking in to the theme of ‘rivers’. A theme of ‘rivers’ was chosen as it referenced the landscape around the hospital, which is sited on the Grand Union Canal, with an enamel panel in the entrance lobby explaining the history of the name, and its link to Brunel’s famous three bridges. The art and interiors create distinct identities


for each ward. Each ward is named after a river, and has its own colour and artwork, as follows: • Admissions Ward – Brent, Duck egg blue. • Admissions Ward – Falcon, Purple. • High Dependency Ward – Windrush, Lime green.


• Medium Dependency Ward – Berry, Navy blue.


• Rehabilitation Ward – Lea, Green.


QUESTIONNAIRE-BASED RESEARCH Willis Newson and Alison Milner worked together with the Trust to carry out questionnaire-based research with service- users into the colour palette and type and location of artwork, which then directly informed the colour and artwork strategy she created. Service-users chose natural colours, and favoured calming landscape images, so she used single blocks of bold natural colours to make each ward distinctive, and then kept the


2 6 THE NE TWORK J u l y 2 0 1 6


move through the unit from admissions to medium or high dependency to rehabilitation can see their progression as they move through the different environments,” said Gerd Sortland, service change lead. Alison Milner specified the colours for the unit, and designed signage at ward entrances and elsewhere which moved away from the NHS standard signage to create a more contemporary and welcoming feel. “The


colours and interiors have been carefully selected and tested to ensure the best possible environment for people with mobility or visual impairment,” Gerd Sortland explained.


INTEGRATED ARTWORKS As well as the interior design, Alison Milner created a range of tailored artworks to suit different spaces in the unit. In the children and family visitor spaces, circular enamel panels illustrated with day and night-time riverside scenes create a friendly, welcoming impression to put younger visitors at ease. “I recently took some visitors through the ward to the family visiting room, and when they arrived their reaction was: ‘Wow, this is great!’ It was very rewarding to get such a great response,” said Gerd Sortland. Large-scale graphic murals help to ‘zone’ the


space, creating unique environments in the quiet rooms, meeting spaces, and dining rooms. Each feature wall artwork contributes to a coherent identity for the Three Bridges Medium Secure Unit. In each of four dining rooms, feature walls,


wall colours, seating, and table tops, coordinate to create a distinct identity for each space, while linking in with the broader ‘rivers’ theme. For example, the Falcon ward dining room is all in purple, with a large-scale illustrated wall vinyl showing a bridge and river scene. Each dining room mural references a local scene – most just outside the perimeter walls of the hospital.


About the author


Jane Willis FRSA, MA (Hons) Oxon, is director of Willis Newson, a leading UK arts and health consultancy. A pioneer in the arts and health field since 1994, when she set up the arts programme for Bart’s Health NHS Trust, she has 22 years’ experience in delivering award-winning, large-scale, integrated arts programmes in healthcare. ‘Passionate about the power of art to change cultures, improve environments, and connect


communities’, Willis Newson manages projects from conception to installation, integrating art into the design of large capital developments, as well as smaller refurbishment projects, in hospitals, care homes, and health centres. The company has ‘an excellent track record’ in collaborating with architects, developers, contractors, and local stakeholders. Willis Newson has recently completed arts programmes for Bristol Royal Infirmary,


Southmead Hospital Bristol, Macmillan Cancer Support, and West London Mental Health Trust, and is currently working with Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust on the ‘3Ts’ Hospital Redevelopment Public Art Programme in Brighton.


DISCOVERING THE SCENES ‘FOR REAL’ “I felt that when the service-users were finally in the rehabilitation wards they might discover those scenes for real,” explained Alison Milner, who also designed them carefully to seem generic as well as specific, so that they can remind service-users of other places they have visited. Safety considerations “The balance between therapy and recovery and security is always present and always a challenge. How do you deliver an environment that is homely and comfortable, while also safe and secure?” asked Gerd Sortland. In mental health environments, security and safety are key considerations, so it was decided stencils were the safest artwork option in corridors. Alison Milner took the service-users’ poems, and stencilled these along corridors to create flowing, light, airy, and uplifting journeys between places. The round enamel wall panels were secured strongly to the wall using special hidden fixings, to give the best visual impression, and ensure that they could not be removed. The vinyl used to create feature walls is secured with extra-strong adhesive. Alongside the considerations for the


artworks, Willis Newson also managed the process of ensuring that the consultation workshops were safely delivered, carrying out risk assessments, making sure no photography took place, and thinking carefully about the materials used in the sessions.


THE FINAL RESULTS The result of this carefully-planned creative engagement process is a welcoming, supportive care environment delivered on time and on budget by Willis Newson. “The budget for art was £59,000, a tiny percentage of the overall build budget of £60 m – in fact under 0.1%. This represents a tiny percentage spent on art, but it has made a huge difference,” said redevelopment programme manager, Barbara Wood, adding: “Willis Newson is very good at making a little money go a long way.” “Equally,” added Gerd Sortland, “patients really feel that they contributed. They voiced their ideas and opinions in workshops, were involved in the design process, and wrote the poems that run along the corridors. They feel that the space is theirs, and have a real sense of belonging and ownership.”





Photo courtesy of John Sturrock.


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