Respite Pavilion, Community Hospital Campus

This concrete pavilion was commissioned as part of an arts strategy for the new Acute Mental Health and North Ayrshire Community Hospital campus.

It sits in the hospital grounds providing shelter for outdoor relaxation, encouraging patients, staff and relatives to escape the wards and waiting rooms of the hospital for the open landscape of the wider campus. 

Designed to resonate with the local geology, the pavilion comprises of three rectangular intersecting planes of reddish, in-situ, board-marked concrete, each with a circular aperture and arranged around a grove of birch trees.

The construction explores how the earth and geology of an area can help create a meaningful sense of place, rooting it in a wider landscape context. A ground plane defines the extent of the intervention and is formed from red-toned, self-binding sands and gravels.

Upon this, the structure is formed from board-marked concrete, with iron-oxide pigmentation to create an earthly affinity with the geology of the wider Ayrshire region.

Three rectangular planes, each with a circular aperture, intersect to form a pavilion arranged around a stand of birch trees. The pavilion frames views and creates a more hospitable outdoor micro-climate. Seating is loosely dispersed, happily accommodating occupation by groups and individuals.

The colour of the concrete is created using iron-oxide pigment in the mix. Various full-scale samples were made by the concrete contractor to establish the required texture and colour.