The Rob Burrow Centre for MND Leeds, UK
The new centre will be a hub of innovation, education and excellence in the treatment for MND (motor neurone disease) for the region, bringing together holistic patient-centred care in a purpose-built environment.
The brand-new centre will see all MND services housed under one roof, in an accessible location conscious of the needs of those who visit. Supporting all aspects of the patient’s journey, the centre will create comfortable and peaceful surroundings for patients and their families, including spaces to reflect after sensitive conversations.
The proposed building is located at the Seacroft Hospital Site in East Leeds, where the new facility is seen as a feature upon entry. The building is arranged in three joined forms – an East and West Wing which house the primary clinical spaces, connected via a central atrium.
Initial concept sketches
This central space has been designed as a community focussed area with a mix of accommodation from reading and quiet spaces, as well as activity and dining areas.
It will be a place for family members to use and will enable staff to observe patients in a more informal setting.
The first floor is designated as a staff area with a dedicated wellbeing space to provide staff working in the building with space away from the clinical areas – an important consideration when providing care to patients with such a challenging condition.
Stakeholder Engagement
The MND community is at the heart of the development of the scheme. Stakeholders have been engaged throughout the process including:
- Clinical staff including neurologists, therapists and specialist clinical staff
Administration and support staff - Patients and their families, with patients engaged from those who have been recently diagnosed through to those living with the condition for
some time - Infection Control, Facilities Management and Trust Estates professionals.
Drop-in sessions have been held with clinical team members to gain a wider perspective on the design of the building, and to engage with the wider MND community the progressing design has been shared via community newsletters and a blog.
“As well as being adaptable for the future, one of the main visions of the new MND centre is to create a space for the MND community to come together to support one another, and this will remain at the heart of what it does.”
Sector Director – Healthcare
Targeting a BREEAM rating of ‘Excellent’, and designed with a fabric-first and energy-efficient approach, the centre will also be built with a vision for the future, able to adapt to new innovations and treatments for MND patients as they emerge. Â
Externally, the building has presence, but still fulfils the requirements for a centre that feels like home. It takes references from the local vernacular in the form of red brick tiles and gabled roofs, providing texture to clean architectural forms.
Internally, natural materials will blend throughout the spaces, adding further texture and helping to support the wellbeing of patients and staff using the building.
Engaging with what the community wants the new centre to be has fundamentally informed how we have designed the new building, from its location on the site and the materials we will build it from, to the furniture that we will specify and the colours and textures we will weave throughout the building and landscape.
Architect
The new centre will make the most of the existing landscape features including mature trees and will provide landscaped gardens with access routes through zones with a mixture of textural planting which patients can engage with.
It will also provide spaces for other therapy activities to take place as well as a memorial wall for private moments with projecting roof forms acting as a transitional zone for those entering and exiting the building
The Corstorphine & Wright team is honoured to be able to deliver this building for Leeds Teaching Hospitals, Leeds Hospitals Charity and for the MND community, and the submission of the planning application marks a positive and exciting step forward in seeing it come to fruition.
