The Northwick Park Hospital’s main 100-metre corridor floor was funded by the Kings Fund‘s ‘Enhancing the Healing Environment’ scheme, which has provided all London acute hospitals with grants of £35,000 to improve patient environment. The floor design was developed through consultation with staff and is based on their journeys and stories concerning the everyday life of the hospital corridor. Seven members of staff volunteered to respond the to the questionnaires, a Night Porter, the Domestic Services Supervisor, the Hairdresser, the Travel Agent, the Chef, an Associate Nurse and an Out-patients receptionist The questionnaire asked them to draw their everyday journeys down the corridor and identify significant locations with related stories and memorable moments. I enlarged their original mapped routes as colour coded cut-outs along the floor and interpreted their stories with photo images. The Night Porter told me how he would sing down the corridor on the lonely dark nights and wished he could ware slippers as his feet hurt him after walking long distances pushing wheelchairs * see Elvin’s slippers with musical notes. The Domestic Supervisor Joyce Perkins has worked at the Hospital many years and has cleaned the floor many times in a working day (c 25,000 times) . She knew where the ceiling leaked onto the floor and remembered
where she stood in the corridor to watch Princess Dianna on her last visit *ref. string of pearls and bucket images.
I have worked with Marley Floors Ltd. using their new X Floor product which enabled me to use new digital photographic techniques in my designs. The hospital has now extended the background tiles into other areas off the main corridor. The floor was successfully opened and two large interpretation panels along side staff portraits explain the working process of the design of the floor. The impact of the work has highlighted the multi-cultural aspect of the Hospital and has given more of an understanding of Hospital routine – ‘HOW many times is the floor cleaned each day’ a Doctor’s comment as to the maintenance statistics .The project has celebrated the working lives of some of the Northwick Park & St Mark’s Hospitals
Sue Ridge Northwick Park Hospital
Main Corridor 2003
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