Kirkwood Hospice

Open since 1987, Kirkwood Hospice provides specialist palliative care to cancer patients and those with life threatening illnesses, as well as support to their families. However, although the facility’s inpatient accommodation remained functional and allowed the Hospice to deliver good patient-focused care, it offered little added value to patients, families or staff and did not match the clinical standards expected of a contemporary Hospice environment.

Through extensive consultation workshops, the IBI design team was able to transform the facility into an uplifting and therapeutic patient environment compliant with the latest clinical standards, and offering good observation and an abundance of natural light to rooms and circulation areas.

The extended and reconfigured accommodation includes nine single rooms, each with en-suite showers and discrete ceiling-mounted hoist tracking. However, as requested by patients during consultation, the scheme also incorporates two multi-bed bays, configured in IBI’s innovative Cruciform arrangement to maximise visibility and provide a non-institutional feel.

All patient rooms benefit from views into landscaped gardens with level access to semi-private screened external garden rooms. Recognising the importance of patients and families being able to spend time away from the bedroom and meet other families, the design significantly increases social and support spaces. Equally, it also includes quiet rooms for those times when individuals prefer solitude.