PFI Partner – Grosvenor House Group
Client – West Kent NHS PCT
Architect – Steffian Bradley
Capital Build - £25m 

Impact Art devised the arts strategy for Gravesend Community Hospital, a PFI project (completed 2005) includes community hospital facilities, a nursing and residential care home, and a social services day centre.

The arts strategy featured:
Schemes for local people to get involved with the arts project and help make decisions about the building’s future design.
Ways to make the most of existing resources.
The artist commissioning process.
Plans to make sure the project had a sustainable arts dimension.

Community engagement

Throughout the project, Impact Art worked alongside PFI clients Grosvenor House Group and architects Steffian Bradley. All were committed to giving staff and local residents a sense of ownership for the new build.

Work by artists Making Marks (Carole Reich and Charlotte Howarth) particularly involved potential service users. They held workshops with staff, a local school, youth groups, residents of the hospital care home and day centre users. Contents and themes for courtyard artwork were carefully considered, planned and discussed. Textural decorative designs were shot-blasted onto the courtyard’s curved wall as a result.

 

Artist commissions

While glass artist Binita Walia applied text quotations and decorative pattern to smoked glass for the main lobby windows and sub waits using a combination of etchings and vinyl.

The print commission was awarded to artist Gudawer Kalirai. His photographs of local imagery (made into prints on canvas using digital manipulation) are displayed throughout the building.