Royal Hospital for Children & Young People and the Department of Clinical Neurosciences

The reprovision of services from the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People (RHCYP), Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and the Department of Clinical Neurosciences (DCN) in a single building adjoining the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE) at Little France. HLM delivered NHS Lothian’s vision to create one inspiring space bringing together outpatient and inpatient facilities for paediatric care, specialist neonatal care, neurosciences and adult and children’s emergency departments, creating a centre of excellence for staff and patients alike.HLM’s proposals developed a fantastic new identity for the RHCYP & DCN, which redefines and improves the entire arrival experience for those approaching the RIE site from the west.The site has been arranged into three distinct elements and easily identifiable component parts that reflect and respond to the client’s Clinical Brief, Design Statement and Ethos Statement. The “Podium” defines the edge of an extended public realm that connects all the main arrival points from Old Dalkeith Road to the new Hospital Square. The curved spine wall forming the edge of the podium becomes a strong visual feature encompassing bespoke artwork developed with staff and patients.  This defines the extent of the new unifying high-quality public realm and differentiates public and private areas.  It provides a wonderful, grassed area that gently sweeps up, creating a private secure setting for the CAMHS unit giving the building its own unique setting within the hospital campus. Sitting within and on the Podium “Big Brother” is the acute block containing all facilities that are shared, including the Diagnostic and Treatment core and the main ward accommodation. The vibrantly coloured “Little Brother” then becomes the Children’s Hospital outpatient facility with the pod space at its heart, full of life and activity!  Little Brother sits independently of the Podium and is located within the public realm, defining both the entrance to the RHCYP to the south and the entrance to the DCN to the north of a shared top lit atrium and street space.0