ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN
Wellbeing centre supports independent living
A new Centre of Wellbeing designed by architects, 3DReid, for the Thistle Foundation, a charitable organisation based in Craigmillar in Edinburgh that supports disabled people to live as independently as possible, and those with long-term conditions to better manage their lives, sits at the centre of a unique estate, as ‘the hub of the community’. Project architect and associate director, Chris Dobson, explains how, having won an invited design competition, 3DReid was commissioned to create the Centre as ‘an aspirational focal point for the area and the people supported by the charity’.
Based in Craigmillar, Edinburgh, Thistle Foundation was set up by Sir Francis and Lady Tudsbery, who built the Thistle Estate in Craigmillar in 1944 to provide homes for disabled ex-servicemen that would, in the words of Sir Francis, enable them ‘to live in homes of their own, surrounded by their own families, by their own friends, and by their own belongings’. The charity says that, at the time, ‘this was a truly pioneering move’ – for the first time, wounded war veterans could live at home with their families while receiving the skilled medical attention essential to their recovery and wellbeing. Sir Francis and Lady Tudsbery had witnessed the consequences of a lack of adequate housing and support for disabled service personnel after the First World War; many such individuals had to spend the remainder of their lives in long-stay hospital care, often leading to the breakdown of family life. Sir Francis’s vision was for a community supported by professional staff that would create as normal an environment as possible for families to live together in comfortable circumstances. Today, sharing the Tudsberys’
The external materials complement the estate’s existing buildings, and the Foundation was keen to use timber cladding, to give warmth and a welcoming face to the Centre.
conviction that ‘disabled people can and should live as part of their local community’, Thistle supports disabled people to live as independently as possible, and those with long-term conditions ‘to better manage life’, with the Thistle estate now a Conservation Area,
The Centre of Wellbeing After winning an invited design competition, 3DReid was commissioned
to create the new Centre of Wellbeing at the heart of the estate, to replace a 1950s clinic building that was no longer fit for purpose. Our design had to create space for a series of facilities, while achieving a welcoming, non-institutional environment. Balancing the wide-ranging requirements of the Centre’s users – from physical mobility and wayfinding needs to requirements relating to physical or mental health conditions – 3DReid’s design had to be practical, user-friendly, and beautiful.
The project was conceived to offer a centre that fulfilled Thistle’s core purpose of offering support to those with physical disabilities, mental health conditions, or lifestyle management issues, in order to enable them to live independent lives. In doing so, the building had to offer an economical means to support not only the core users, but also the wider area and Thistle Foundation staff and community organisations.
The hub
As well as continuing the theme of openness and welcome, the Centre’s exterior design took account of it being in a Conservation Area, set beside the A-listed ‘Arts and Crafts’ Robin Chapel.
The Centre of Wellbeing is a vital driver for Thistle’s work – supporting the charity’s core user network, and acting as a focus for wider community outreach activities. Being an ‘open door’ building,
June 2018 Health Estate Journal 45
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