PASW Regional Newsletter: Spring 2001
Regional Projects - Bodmin Hospital
The first new Cornish hospital of the 21st Century receives the green light. The new hospital will replace both St Lawrence's Hospital and East Cornwall Hospital. It will be built on part of the existing St Lawrence's site off Westheath Avenue / Boundary Road. Construction will involve a detailed design and build period of 66 weeks, with completion projected for early 2002. The capital cost of the development has been set at £10.2 million.
Cornwall Healthcare NHS Trust has appointed an Artist in Residence for the new hospital development. Following a successful application to South West Arts' Year of the Artist scheme for financial support, Camelford based Artist, Roger Michell, was selected to be the artistic force on the team creating the first new Cornish hospital of the 21st Century.
This hospital development offers an exciting opportunity to link and integrate artworks with the design and construction of the building, meaning that art can be incorporated into the very fabric of the building itself. The Artist in Residence will join the design and construction team and will be involved at the creative centre of the design and build process. Alongside architects, engineers, builders, landscape architects, interior designers and project managers, he will identify opportunities for making art an integrated part of the new hospital building and its external landscape. He will undertake some of these creative projects himself, as well as commissioning work from other professional artists.
In addition, Roger Michell will devise and develop an arts programme for the new hospital, which may involve exhibitions, performances, and patients' activities. It is possible that the programme will link with the wider arts programme of Bodmin and North Cornwall, involving local and regional arts organisations, schools and colleges, and community initiatives.
Dee Enright,
Communications Manager, Tel : 01726 291075