garden - our vision

A garden at the heart of the healing process

The client’s brief to the architect required the inclusion of a space for future landscape development. The building of the new Glasgow Homoeopathic Hospital and the subsequent commission of Jane Kelly as Lead Artist offered the opportunity to make green leafy surroundings an integral part of the healing environment for patients, families and staff.

”The quality of light in the gym, and the fact that there is an entire wall of glass looking out into the garden means that the view is seasonal, and, dispels the prospective gloom of a working day ahead!”

Stephanie Wilson, Physiotherapy Dept

Early and frequent consultation with hospital both patients and confirmed the view that this therapeutic garden should be visible from within the building, and be complementary to the contemporary architecture. Like the new building, the garden also aspired to be “a place of beauty and healing”, an inspirational space to both walk and sit in, as well as to look out upon from within.

Further discussions with patients, staff and other members of the Design Team revealed a communal aspiration for an easily accessible informal landscape of trees shrubs, flowers and pathways. A garden that would not only give patients and staff an awareness of the rich seasonal renewals of light, colour, form and texture, but provide a practical demonstration of the way that contact with nature can help people recover more quickly and regain their balance, serenity and health.

“The garden gives you the chance to relax. I get lost in that garden, sucked into the trees and the birds in the sky. Before I would see these things but I didn’t connect to them – it is another world – I have learned to appreciate it, and it does something to you, it’s amazing.”

Patient