PROJECT REPORT: HEALTHCARE BUILD & DESIGN
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The language of cylindrical, milled glulam columns holding up the entrance canopy is continued in further columns in the adjacent therapy garden, “like music drifting into the landscape”, says Mawson. Similarly sized metal counterparts produce different notes when hit with a beater, which will resonate together. He notes that while creating a curved circulation has aesthetic benefits for all users, including dementia sufferers who find it less disorientating than a straight corridor, it had design challenges. “When we got into the detailing it threw up a raft of junctions in the timber frame that we had to think about, but we were keen to have that sinuous element, with the pods inserted quite forcefully into it”.
Materials
The close attention to detail throughout is evidence of the results of Annie Mawson and the charity giving the architects “a very strong agenda that they will support the architectural ambitions of the project,” says Mawson. However this was a double- edged sword, with the client wanting the highest quality in terms of the material specification, for example to durability of the timber shingles used to clad the pods. The architects sought the help of Trada in ensuring they were treated for a long life in the damp Cumbrian climate.
As well as researching existing provision in this fairly esoteric area of therapy (he also found Leslie Bunt’s book ‘Music Therapy: An Art Beyond Words’ useful), the architect drew on Steiner education
ADF JULY 2018
principles in both form and materials. This was one reason that natural materials have been chosen wherever possible, as well as to enhance the way the building gently blends in with the landscape. Will Mawson says there was also a deliberate attempt to avoid the “very sterile, very similar” feel of a lot of healthcare environments. With many users having some degree of autism, the intrinsic warmth of natural materials was a key means to making their environment more supportive. “We were thinking, here’s an opportunity to use the same materials on the inside as on the outside, bringing the outside in – literally,” the architect says. The main examples of this are the shingle-clad exteriors of two pods left exposed internally, and framing the reception and the slate wall continuing all the way along one side of the curved corridor. For this, slate was sourced from Burlington quarry about 40 miles away, and painstakingly selected on site by the stonemasons. This ensured no sharp slices of slate were used below a certain height to remove any risk to users, particularly children.
As well as the pods being clad in cedar shingles, and the curved volume in French oak, internally timber is everywhere; from the glulam frame and Siberian larch ceilings, to the oak planks covering the walls and floor of the main hall, and the same material used for windows and doors. The way materials were used was faithful to the local vernacular, but with some choices adapted slightly for performance benefits, as Mawson explains: “There’s a lot
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MUSICAL MOTIFS
An 18-metre bow-string truss bisects a circular rooflight in the reception space
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