PVB interlayer film BROADMOOR HOSPITAL

for laminated glassfor glass facadesafety

Art in Site were hired in 2013 as the art consultant for the £250m New Broadmoor redevelopment project ¬– a high-secure mental health care unit in the South of England, catering to patients with severe mental illness. For many, Broadmoor is home: patients will typically spend 4-8 years here, and some will spend even longer. As such, the designed environment has a profound role to play in supporting a patient’s sense of hope, wellbeing, health, and recovery. One of the most important spaces at Broadmoor is the multifaith room, which is designed to be adaptable for prayer and mediation across a broad spectrum of faiths. We worked with the late artist Jon Thompson – curator of Freeze and innovative head of Goldsmiths Art School in London – to develop a window for this room, which aims to bring spiritual and emotional support, at the same time as it conforms to various religious requirements. To achieve this, we conducted a series of consultation sessions and workshops with patients across the faith background spectrum, in order understand their emotional, religious, and practical needs, and hear from them what would make for a meaningful intervention. During conversations with patients, Jon identified a common theme - the idea of “the light and dark” that resides in all human beings. Patients described a need to show this – to reveal it through design – rather than hide it away. Jon ingeniously took this insight and produced a sketched design, which reflects this self-expression of light and dark, literally. Categories: Facades , Health & Education , Europe/Middle East/Africa Location: UK Artist: Jon Thompson