Client – Sussex Partnership NHS Trust
Architects – Devereux
Contractors - Rydon
Landscape Architect – Standerwick Design
Capital Build - £16m
Langley Green is a state of the art 69 bed mental health facility in Crawley, West Sussex. Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust wanted to create a contemporary, considered environment with a strong arts aspect, and deliver a high standard of care in a therapeutic setting. The result is an award winning project - 2009 Building Better Healthcare Award for External Spaces.
Commenting on the awards, Christine Bowman, Deputy Director Strategic Development & Capital Projects at Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust said
" We are delighted that Langley Green Hospital has been awarded such prestigious national recognition for its outside space. Every inch of the building and grounds at Langley Green benefits from art projects specially commissioned by Sussex Partnership which incorporates ideas from people who use the services. The result is a very special building and grounds, and an inspirational environment to work in and one which supports people's recovery."
Inspiring team
Impact Art worked with colleagues from the Trust (administrators, staff, service users, clinical and non-clinical staff), Devereux Architects and landscape architects Standerwick Land Design to craft a truly holistic approach to well being.
Following the creation and agreement of the brief, Impact Art led an Art Steering Group and developed several commission opportunities. These were widely advertised in leading arts press, which generated an excellent response.
In total, Impact Art co-ordinated the selection and inclusion of over ten artists’ complex designs within the construction programme. Some examples are:
Walls full of light
Sasha Ward was chosen as the lead artist. This was largely due to Sasha’s distinguished public art career and experience of working with both stakeholders and professionals.
Her artwork was linked to a consultative process throughout and included:
Leading workshops with service users, embedding their designs around ‘colours throughout the year’ into screen-printed kiln fired glazed panels.
Incorporating gentle natural forms and foliage patterns within etched glass windows for Therapies and Faith Rooms.
Selecting colours and materials across the whole site with interior designers and architects.
Exterior space
Moving outside, recycled glass inserts and wander-loop pathways are based on the Fibonacci number sequence (found in the calming refuge of nature).
The Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) garden was designed by artists Stig Evans and David Watson and as part of it features the striking Colour Bench.
Set in the round, with block upon block of colour. Each block is a cross section of a layer (viewed under a microscope) from service users’ paintings. These were made in artist-led ‘Emotion Diaries’ workshops, and also reproduced as colour swatch prints in hospital bedrooms.
"Artwork was commissioned to inspire a healing environment, with emphasis on seasons and colour. The exterior has been brought inside through the use of artwork: sculptures, wood carving, ceramics and etching, bringing a tactile element, the outcome of which is truly stunning"
Ginni Duncan-Bilham, Estates Interior Design Lead
, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
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