Over the years, rb&hArts is proud to have positively enhanced the hospital environment of Royal Brompton and Harefield by bringing art to thousands of patients.
Research has shown that integrating arts in healthcare settings can improve patient wellbeing and assist in recovery.
The Peace Gardens with Emily Gardiner
Working with Groundwork London and ceramic artist Emily Gardiner, rb&hArts are renovating underused green spaces at Harefield Hospital to improve patients’ 
experience.
Spaces outside the hospital's transplant and intensive therapy units will be transformed to give patients the ability to enjoy them from their ward bedrooms and when they go outside. Emily Gardiner has been commissioned to create seven ceramic art pieces themed on the Mediterranean sea and sun to uplift patients’ moods.
The Sun Therapy garden will feature Anzac-themed plants, a new seating area and sensory plants for patients with accessibility needs.
The project is led by rb&hArts and supported by the Heathrow Community Trust, The Mayor of London’s Greener City Fund, the National Lottery Community Fund via the Harefield Transplant Club, and HS2 Community and Environment Fund (CEF), Harefield Hospital and Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospitals Charity.
The Peace Gardens is one of many green initiatives at the hospitals, which include the Transplant Garden, the Healing Garden, ITU nurses’ garden, the Harefield allotment, the lake and 420 saplings donated by the Woodland Trust to Harefield Hospital, and the courtyard development at Royal Brompton Hospital thanks to the Chelsea Physic Garden and The Brompton Fountain.
Staff and patients can also register to become ‘Green champions’ and help contribute to all ‘green’ initiatives around the hospitals. Green champions will benefit from learning new skills and enhancing wellbeing.
The Imaging Centre
We are collaborating with patients, artists and designers to create spaces in the new imaging centre that are comforting, calming and supportive to all our patients, staff and visitors. Selected artists and designers have been invited to explore and shape their ideas using themes of biophilia (love of nature), the history of the site and the hospital, and the history of medical imaging. The work will also combine light, colour and natural materials, to create a calm and welcoming environment.
Between Art & Technology (BAT) studio are working on the interior design and joinery in the waiting areas to create a warm welcome for patients, staff and visitors. BAT have worked closely with clinical leads and consulted patients on designs to ensure they are inclusive, calm and engaging.
Artist Enya Lachman-Curl is developing designs that lead patients and staff on a journey through the building, using flowing brushstrokes inspired by nature. She is working with our wayfinding consultant to ensure her images work together with hospital signage.
Artist David Lemm is undertaking an arts residency to explore the possibilities of scanning technology alongside biophilia and local heritage. Visit his blog here for more information and images from his residency, and follow updates using the hashtag: #rbhartsimagingresidency on Instagram and Twitter.
For more information on the imaging centre project, please click here.