RUH Hydrotherapy Pool Artwork – What am I doing?

Blog, Healthcare Projects, Public Art, RUH Hydrotherapy Pool

Drawing drafts for moving water and gestural motifs developing patterns from research at the RNHRD and RUH Hydrotherapy Units. Artist: Christopher Tipping

There are many threads of research and interest which have influenced the development and visual narrative of the artwork. The following notes and lists are from my own notebooks, where I made records of research sessions and information which struck me as inspirational.

The Mineral Water Hospital, affectionately known as The Min, was built in 1742 & overlooked open, ‘quiet fields’ and countryside. The Hospital was constructed on the site of Bath’s first Theatre of 1705, by the Architect George Trim, whose Mother was, apparently the sister of the Kings Architect, Inigo Jones. The theatre was demolished 1738.

This theatrical & dramatic connection has influenced the concept of using the glazed Hydrotherapy screens as inspirational painted backdrops – a way of creatively setting the scene within the new space & enhancing the experience of staff and patients using the Pool.

In 1859, with great ceremony, the foundation stone was laid for a new hospital building adjacent to the original site and built upon the grounds of a ‘large formal garden belonging to the Parsonage of St Peter Paul Parish’. This garden is shown on the John Speed map of 1610.

The new Royal United Hospital was built in open fields at Combe Park in 1932 (having moved from central Bath). Combe Park had formerly been the site of the Bath War Hospital built in 1916 to provide beds and medical services for WW1 Casualties. There was a small pond and a stream ran nearby. Patients and staff were encouraged to grow and maintain flower gardens & were rewarded with prizes.

Aerial view of the RUH sitting amidst green fields circa 1932 having moved to this site at Weston Manor from the centre of Bath. Image by kind permission of Bath in Time and Bath War Hospital at the RUH.

In the Building Report on The Mineral Water Hospital, by The House Historians, March 2006, there is a detailed report on The Chapel, (now the home of Bath Medical Museum)and its architectural decorations.

This mentions a number of plants seen in carvings, stained glass and other architectural details, which are wonderfully useful in referencing the legacy of The Min, when it finally closes its doors to move to the RUH site:

Ivy

Oak

Water Buttercup

Wild Poppy

Fig

Vines

White Lilies

Passion Flower

Pomegranate

Hyssop

Colour and pattern used within the stained glass is also influential. Patterns are influenced by the architectural decoration and tiling of The Min Chapel.

Various hydrotherapy treatments, methods and equipment as described as being newly installed in 1915 following extensive alterations, are also very evocative and inspire some abstract interpretation within my creative narrative.

Deep Baths

Aix and Vichy Douches

Scotch and Needle Douches

Reclining and Vapour Baths

Radiant Heat Baths

Sulpher Baths of Potassium Sulphide

Mineral Water Baths

Whirlpool Bath

Hubbard Tank to treat the entire body simultaneously

‘A Vichy Massage required the patient to stand on a rubber covered slab whilst showered with jets of hot mineral water. The needle bath was a circular shower with an array of horizontal pipes which sprayed fine jets of water’.

Descriptions of the Coat of Arms for the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases – to give The Min its formal & proper title, is a useful source of colour references, decorative motifs, plants, animals and their meaning.

Black

White for truth, sincerity, peace, innocence and purity

Green

Blue

Purple

Circlet of Fountains

Foxglove

Hares

Meadow Saffron

I like the colour of evening sky, that particular shade of indigo blue.

Water is by turns fluid and abstract, vaporous & ephemeral, contained within many shapes – rivers, ponds, streams, pools, baths, glasses & oceans – any number of vessels.

My creative approach is making connections between place & historic legacy, hydrotherapy practice and an imaginary landscape, which may be conjured up whilst being treated in the pool & feeling the benefits of floating & exercising, whilst being supported by warm water and the care and assistance and encouragement of staff.

‘This hospital was to be entirely self-funded, and even before the hospital was built the raising of monies for it began in earnest. Bath’s Master of Ceremonies, Richard Beau Nash arranged balls and collected subscriptions; wills, donations and even bequests of a diamond, and 1,000 oranges, contributed to the coffers. The list of donors reads like a Who’s Who of 18th century Bath society. Those who donated £40 or more were invited to become a hospital governor, including the artist William Hoare and the actor David Garrick’.

https://thebathmagazine.co.uk/finding-the-cure/

Map on framed canvas. Mrs. Oliver inscribed on reverse. Showing location of Weston Manor prior to incorporation into Royal United Hospital. Image: By kind permission Bath War Hospital at the RUH

This Estate Map above – date unknown – shows the private estate of Weston Manor before the RUH incorporated it into its site in the 20th Century.

‘The hospital moved to its present site, Combe Park, on 11 December 1932. The site had previously been used for the large First World War Bath War Hospital which opened in 1916. In November 1919 it was renamed the Bath Ministry of Pensions Hospital, which it remained until it closed in 1929.

The site was also used by the Forbes Fraser Hospital and the Bath and Wessex Orthopaedic Hospital, both founded in 1924 and which merged into the RUH about 1980. The former manor house on the site, originally medieval but remodelled in the 18th century, became an administrative building. The building is a Grade II* listed building due to its fine Adam style interior’. Wikipedia

Image: Early Draft artwork for North & East Screens. March 2018 RUH HYDROTHERAPY. Artist: Christopher Tipping

Draft Artworks: Interior detailing explored for the Hydrotherapy Pool – new Therapies Unit, RUH, Bath. Artist: Christopher Tipping

Draft Artworks: Interior detailing explored for the North Screen of the Hydrotherapy Pool – new Therapies Unit, RUH, Bath. Artist: Christopher Tipping

Draft Artworks: Interior detailing explored for the East Screen of the Hydrotherapy Pool – new Therapies Unit, RUH, Bath. Artist: Christopher Tipping

Research Images from the RNHRD, The Min Chapel. Artist: Christopher Tipping

Research Images from the RNHRD, Roman Mosaic from the basement excavations of The Min Artist: Christopher Tipping

Research Images developing patterns from research at the RNHRD, including The Min Chapel. Artist: Christopher Tipping

The Granite Bench at Rogallo Place –

Blog, Public Art, Public Realm, Rogallo Place

Rogallo Place Granite Bench by Artist Christopher Tipping. Image: Richard Gooding

A simple monolithic granite bench was also commissioned for Rogallo Place by Optivo Homes. A beautiful honed finish is sandblasted with the name of the building alongside detailed motifs reflecting the glazing vinyls of the building’s interior.

The bench was manufactured and supplied in collaboration with Hardscape, as ever, great to work with.

Rogallo Place Granite Bench by Artist Christopher Tipping. Image: Richard Gooding

Rogallo Place Granite Bench by Artist Christopher Tipping. Image: Hardscape

The image above was taken during production at Hardscape’s Facility at Long Marston, near Stratford Upon Avon.

Rogallo Place Granite Bench by Artist Christopher Tipping. Image: Hardscape

Rogallo Place Granite Bench by Artist Christopher Tipping. Image: Richard Gooding

Rogallo Place Granite Bench Drawings by Hardscape for Artist Christopher Tipping. Image: Hardscape

Rogallo Place Granite Bench by Artist Christopher Tipping. Image: Richard Gooding

Rogallo Place Granite Bench by Artist Christopher Tipping. Image: Francis Knight Art Consultants

All done & dusted at Rogallo Place

Blog, Rogallo Place

Rogallo Place Glazing Vinyl by Artist Christopher Tipping. Image: Richard Gooding

Rogallo Place has now completed on site with all artworks successfully in place. Many thanks to Francis Knight for the usual brilliant arts management and collaboration, and to Optivo Homes for the opportunity.

A big thanks also to my specialist manufacturers & collaborators, VGL & Hardscape for their invaluable contribution.

All images are copyright of and by Richard Gooding Photography

Rogallo Place Glazing Vinyl by Artist Christopher Tipping. Image: Richard Gooding

Rogallo Place & production visit to VGL

Blog, Healthcare Projects, Public Art, Public Realm, Rogallo Place

VGL Art Room, Reading. Approving Production Files. Image: Christopher Tipping

As with most of my projects I rely on creative collaboration and engagement with specialist suppliers and manufacturers. VGL are one of the best I have worked with. Their digital printing facilities are excellent, but it their outstanding collaborative skills which enable me to create work like this. The following images are from a factory visit in July 2018 to review sample production and the creation and sign off of the digital production files.

VGL Digital Print Sampling. Image: Christopher Tipping

VGL Digital Print Sampling. Rogallo Place. Image: Christopher Tipping

VGL Print Room Samples for Rogallo Place. Image: Christopher Tipping

VGL Digital Print Sampling. Rogallo Place. Image: Christopher Tipping

VGL Print Room Samples for Rogallo Place. Image: Christopher Tipping

Hydrotherapy Pool, Royal United Hospital, Bath – new Therapies Centre

Blog, Healthcare Projects, Public Art, RUH Hydrotherapy Pool

Draft Artwork: Interior with architectural glazed screens – Christopher Tipping

External draft artwork detail of the Hydrotherapy Pool. Image: Christopher Tipping

I was commissioned by Art at the Heart of the RUH in December 2017 to create artwork in response to the architectural glazing in the Hydrotherapy Pool room at the new Therapies Centre for the Royal United Hospital, Bath. These architectural glass panels are floor to ceiling glazed apertures with a combined 46.40 sq m of glass. I am working in collaboration with PROTO GLASS STUDIOS, Architectural Glass Decorators.

The project is being delivered by Kier Construction Ltd with Architects IBI Group

We have also been engaged with a large group of stakeholders, including staff and service users, some of whom have been are lifelong patients at the RNHRD & RUH. This is an ongoing process and we are taking everyone on the journey with us.

‘FLOW’

“Flow is active. It is not just the water, but it is the way our muscles are warmed and released, allowing blood to flow more freely. It is the freedom from stiffness of joints, when even a centimetre gained is a big triumph. It is active horizontally and not vertically. My spine is fully arthrosed and I cannot turn my head. This is a fundamental problem for AS patients and one of the big exercises in the pool and the gym is trying to turn and look over your shoulder without moving your body. That is flow. It is horizontal”. George Odam RNHRD Lifelong Patient with Ankylosing spondylitis (AS), speaking about his personal journey and experience of hydrotherapy treatment in 2017.

The Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases (RNHRD) and The Brownsword Therapies Centre (BTC)

The new RNHRD and BTC will be built close to the main entrance of the Royal United Hospital or RUH; it will be an outpatient centre providing treatment, care and education for patients to recover from episodes of illness or injury, or to manage their long-term condition. The new building will house many of the services currently located at the RNHRD (also known as The Mineral Hospital/ The Min) and the existing RUH therapies and pain management services located in RUH North, under one roof. The Centre will create a centralised and integrated space for staff to work collaboratively, delivering a holistic and patient-centred approach to care.

Old Hydrotherapy Pool, RUH Bath. Image: Christopher Tipping

Hydrotherapy Pool at The Royal Mineral Water Hospital, RNHRD, Bath, 2018. Image:Christopher Tipping

Rubber Ducks at the Hydrotherapy Pool at The Royal Mineral Water Hospital, RNHRD, Bath, 2018. Image: Christopher Tipping

Objects at the Hydrotherapy Pool at The Royal Mineral Water Hospital, RNHRD, Bath, 2018. Image: Christopher Tipping

Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, Bath. Image: Christopher Tipping

Pediment of the Royal Mineral Water Hospital, Bath, aka The Min 2018. Image: Christopher Tipping

The Min, as the RNHRD is affectionately known, has a small Medical Museum situated in the Old Chapel. It is a fascinating collection and curated and managed by a small group of dedicated and enthusiastic people, who allowed me access to the photographic Archives. This was very much appreciated.

‘In 2012 the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases [The Mineral Hospital] opened a small museum to showcase their collection. Now, with the imminent closure of the hospital in the centre of Bath, our museum has been granted custody of the Collection of the Min, which includes records dating back to the 1740s, artefacts, the paintings and other pieces of art from around the Hospital, memorabilia, and photographs relating to rheumatology, medicine and pharmacy’.

A Hubbard Tank was used for entire body treatments in Hydrotherapy. Image: Copyright & by kind permission of Bath Medical Museum, RNHRD

Patient taking a Nauheim effervescent bath, date unknown – Image: Copyright & by kind permission of Bath Medical Museum, RNHRD

Vichy spray massage treatment. Date unknown – Image: Copyright & by kind permission of Bath Medical Museum, RNHRD

Brass identity medallions worn by patients in the 18th Century. Image: Copyright & by kind permission of Bath Medical Museum, RNHRD

Dorset County Hospital – the new Cancer Unit Glazing Artwork

Blog, Cancer Unit Dorset County Hospital, Healthcare Projects, Public Art

Image: Draft artwork with re-imagined stones by Christopher Tipping 2018

I have been commissioned to create artwork to be digitally printed onto optically clear vinyl for the external glazing of the new Cancer Unit at Dorset County Hospital. Dorset’s pioneering new cancer unit is under construction and is due to be delivered in 2018. It is being built and operated jointly by Poole and Dorset Hospitals. My approach has been framed by a research trip I made back in June 2008 to the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site and to Dorchester Museums Archive Collections and the Natural History Museum in London.

Image: Christopher Tipping- Jurassic Coast Dorset 2008

Image: Christopher Tipping- Display Box of Microfossils, Dorset County Museum 2008

Image: Found objects and natural abstractions for Dorset County Hospital Cancer Unit by Christopher Tipping

Ten years ago I created artwork for wayfinding and inlaid bespoke floor coverings for the corridors of the main hospital buildings and also for Maiden Castle House, which provides Psychiatric Services for the Trust. This original body of work, completed in 2010 was considered a resonant starting point for this new project in 2018 and has been instrumental in underpinning the artwork created for the Cancer Unit.

Alex Coulter, former Arts Manager, Arts in Hospital writing in 2008 said –

‘The artist, Chris Tipping, researched and recorded geological structures, fossils and land forms along the Jurassic coast as the basis for his designs. He made drawings on the coast and in Dorset County Museum’s collections and talked to geologists based at Southampton University to help inform his ideas. Chris was interested in the idea that the floors in the hospital could be interpreted as the layers or strata of the coast with fossil like patterns embedded in them and fragments and elements emerging where different layers meet. They are inlaid into the floor at key areas such as lift thresholds and at the top of staircases to help with wayfinding while smaller elements break up long expanses of corridor. It was Chris’s idea to curve the edges of the flooring and to reveal sections of designs rather as you might see a fragment in the cliff. The technology used is sophisticated with laser cutting creating elements which fit together with no need for sealant in-between. His designs enliven what would otherwise be vast expanses of plain flooring and contribute to making the hospital environment more stimulating and appealing for patients – a healing environment’.

The following text was taken from the 2018 project brief by Alex Murdin, Arts Manager, Arts in Hospital, at Dorset County Hospital.

‘Initial consultation with patients and staff suggested that the theme of the Cancer Unit artworks should evolve around nature and light, “Letting in the Light”. Medical and psychological evidence is strong that natural images, textures, patterns and light are all beneficial for wellbeing and recovery . Contact with Nature has been reported to have psychological benefits by reducing stress, improving attention, by having a positive effect on mental restoration, and by coping with attention deficits.

Natural light is important to healing and wellbeing and patients with views of open spaces get better faster. As the views from the new Cancer Unit will be limited to other hospital buildings and urban Dorchester, art can provide an alternative view for patients through translucent imagery of landscape and natural forms on windows. The window vinyls must in any case screen off views of the interior from outside by passers-by and occupiers of adjacent buildings, as necessary for patient’s actual and perceived privacy and confidentiality without the need for blinds and the accompanying loss of light’.

Dorset’s pioneering new cancer unit is under construction and due to be delivered in 2018 is being built and operated jointly by Poole and Dorset Hospitals. It will deliver world class health care for our local communities. The project will develop cancer facilities for patients all across Dorset and bring radiotherapy services to Dorchester for the first time. The new facilities will be life-changing, particularly for people who have previously had to travel long distances for radiotherapy services in Poole.

The unit will serve people of all ages, who have been diagnosed with cancer as well as their families. Patients who use this service are likely to be distressed and for some people, they may be living with a terminal diagnosis. The unit will be home to new linear accelerators (LINAC) – the device most commonly used for external beam radiation treatments for patients with cancer. It will be a multi-functional space offering life changing radiotherapy, consulting rooms and counselling rooms. The unit will also be used by support groups. The unit is being funded Dorset County Hospital Charity, Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (DCHFT), Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and with a major legacy from the photographer Robert White, a local man who died from cancer in 2015′.

Image: Draft Artwork for Dorset County Hospital Cancer Unit by Christopher Tipping

Image: Draft Artwork – Found & re-imagined stones for Dorset County Hospital Cancer Unit by Christopher Tipping

Image: Draft artwork for Dorset County Hospital Cancer Unit by Christopher Tipping

A Circle of Words in a Military Square

Blog, Chatham Placemaking Masterplan, Public Art, Public Realm, Transport

The regeneration and public realm works in Military Square, Chatham have very nearly been completed. This involves the installation of 400 bespoke radius-cut monolithic blocks of granite set into 17m diameter circle, putting a circle of words at the centre of a Military Square!

154 of the granite blocks have words, numbers & patterns sandblasted or inset into the surface. Just over 400 words are included –

Local school children & people working in local businesses were asked for their comments.

We listened to them & heard their stories. We listened to the sound of their lives.

There is an overwhelming sense of common ownership in this project.

These words are not ours. They belong to Chatham.

Military Square, Chatham. Image: Christopher Tipping

Draft Artwork for Military Square, Chatham. Image: Christopher Tipping

Military Square, Chatham. Image: Christopher Tipping

Granite blocks awaiting installation in Military Square, Chatham. Image: Christopher Tipping

You may know that the aim of this public realm project was to upgrade the route from Chatham Station to the Waterfront. This includes pedestrian and cycle routes as well as crossing points, upgrading paving materials, improving steps and ramps, opening up the public realm and streamlining access and pedestrian permeability.

Francis Knight, Public Art Consultants, managed the Public Art Project. Our project collaborators and consultants to Medway Council were LDA Design and Project Centre.

We have worked within these parameters, using the language of public realm and materials, which are robust and stand the test of time. We have created a quiet ‘narrative’ thread – a story about Chatham – & more specifically about events and places along this route.

We wanted the streets to speak quietly, confidently & with good humour about Chatham…WHAT MAKES A TOWN? …THESE ARE OUR STREETS…part memorial, part living voice…but mostly a celebration of the rich heritage and community of Chatham.

As an artist and designer of public spaces, this project has been an opportunity to influence our surroundings in a way that ‘speaks’ of Chatham and its people. We mostly take our pavements for granted, but these spaces have often developed from historic pathways and tracks linking communities and towns across the wider region. They have a resonance and a ‘voice’, …and echo with history.

The route from the Station to the Waterfront takes us down Railways Street & Military Road – in doing so we pass several key places, such as New Cut (a former farmyard), St John’s (a Grade II Listed Waterloo Church) – Military Square, considered the Heart of the Town. At these important sites, we have made interventions to articulate the granite kerb in ways, which are expressive and of interest, whilst still maintaining functionality.

Military Square, Chatham. Image: Christopher Tipping

KIMBER’S CHIMNEY – Kingsbridge Lane, Southampton

Blog, Kingsbridge Lane, Public Art, Public Realm, Transport, Uncategorized

‘The SOUTHAMPTON and SALISBURY CANAL passed through a tunnel just to the left of here…almost under your feet’

Kingsbridge Lane with Civic Centre and Clocktower. Image: Massie Wilson

‘Can you see Southampton’s 1930s CIVIC CENTRE? The Clock Tower, Kimber’s Chimney, reaches 156 feet in height…’

Text – white granite inset into contrasting black granite.

Kingsbridge Lane in Southampton is a historically important and longstanding pedestrian-only route with no vehicular access. This makes the site significant to Southampton. It is a long surviving link to the western route in and out of Southampton along the coastal strand, which formed the northern shore of the River Test Estuary until the early 20^thCentury. The footpath runs along a narrow strip of land between the existing railway tunnel and the historic and long abandoned tunnel of the Southampton to Salisbury Canal, which ran along what is now Blechynden Terrace, linking Central Station to the Guildhall Square &Cultural Quarter. My role within this project was to develop a contextual response to the site, which would, hopefully, influence the landscape design and regenerative design process in collaboration Simon Taylor of Balfour Beatty Living Places , Southampton City Council and Hardscape.

Kingsbridge Lane, Southampton. Image: Massie Wilson

Kingsbridge Lane, Southampton. 14 lines of text – Image: Balfour Beatty

‘SOUTHAMPTON is a Sea City on the SOLENT …with and unusual Double High Tide’.

Text – white granite inset into contrasting black granite.

Aerial view of Kingsbridge Lane, Southampton. Image: Massie Wilson

‘Oh when the SAINTS go marching in …I want to be in that number… oh when the Saints go marching in…’

Nighttime aerial view of Kingsbridge Lane, Southampton. Image: Massie Wilson

‘In 2017 over 6 million passengers used Southampton CENTRAL STATION’

Kingsbridge Lane, Southampton. Nighttime view. Image: Massie Wilson

‘SOUTHAMPTON is a Sea City on the SOLENT …with and unusual Double High Tide’.

Basalt Slabs with inset text at Hardscape for Kingsbridge Lane, Southampton. Image: Christopher Tipping

Kingsbridge Lane, Southampton. Image: Massie Wilson

‘Jane Austen lived in Southampton from 1806 to 1809 … her house on Castle Square had a wonderful garden that hugged the old city walls’

Kingsbridge Lane, Southampton. Image: Massie Wilson

The granite seating and retaining walls by Hardscape are undercut along the front edge suggesting the movement of water throughout the site.

‘The MAYFLOWER set sail from SOUTHAMPTON across the Atlantic to America in 1620′

Aerial view of Kingsbridge Lane at the junction with Blechynden Terrace and West Park Rd, Southampton. Image: Massie Wilson

Look at this …

Blog, Public Art, Public Realm, The Flower Bowl

Alan Lovell of Bannister Hall Landscape Supplies sent some great production images of the 7m diameter PietraPave granite mosaic I created, during its recent construction in China. The work has been manufactured and is now on its way to the UK for installation at The Flower Bowl, Barton Grange nr Preston.

7m diameter granite mosaic during manufacture in China. Image by kind permission: Alan Lovell, Bannister Hall Landscape Supplies, Pietra Pave

Almost done – the last few boards

Blog, Public Art, Public Realm, The Flower Bowl

By the way, I chose the worst day of the week to make a site visit to Barton Grange in Lancashire to check on progress – rained all day – the one poor day out of a glorious week of fine weather. Images not as good as they could be.

Notwithstanding that, the progress by Aztec Industrial Roofing Ltd has been brilliant and the main contractors, Truman Design and Build are now focussing on the interiors which are a hive of activity.

Externally, the rainscreen boards are almost all in place – with many exhibiting various stages of weathering, which starts with the exposed routed board being a bright yellow tone and gradually darkening to a rich tan / copper colour.

The Cutting Room in Huntingdon have now almost completed cutting the last of the boards and these will be shipped to site during the next week or so.