In close collaboration with landscape designer Joe Perkins, we are working with the national charity Horatio’s Garden to design the buildings for their tenth transformative garden project. Located adjacent to the Yorkshire Regional Spinal Injuries Centre at Pinderfields General Hospital in Wakefield, the new garden and buildings will support patients in rehabilitation, as well as their families, friends and NHS staff.
The buildings include a large ‘Garden Room’ with a kitchen and living room space for socialising and activities, as well as smaller ‘Pods’ for more intimate gatherings and private conversions – particularly important for patients who can spend many months in shared wards. They allow the gardens to be enjoyed year-round, as well as offering a transition space for patients to give the best possible support as they adapt to an outdoor environment.
Access to outdoor space is known to improve patients’ recovery by offering them and their families places that support rehabilitation, social connection and emotional wellbeing. Whilst for staff, the gardens and buildings offer a valuable opportunity for high-quality respite breaks.
Each project is designed around the needs of everyone who uses it, to create a calm, accessible and restorative space. Previous architects commissioned to design the garden buildings include 6a, who collaborated with landscape designer Sarah Price on Cardiff which opened in 2022, and EBBA, currently working on Middlesborough with landscape designer Studio Pollyanna.
