David Bailey proud to work on brand new, colourful, state-of-the-art cancer unit at Guy’s hospital

When we’re feeling unwell and are in an unfamiliar environment, we often want to be surrounded by familiar items to make us feel comforted. Most people have a favourite colour, whether that comes from widely perceived connotations about a shade (e.g. yellow for happiness) or from the personal feelings a particular colour evokes (e.g. the shade of lipstick your mother wore when you were a child).

When thinking of a hospital environment, many people envisage a plain, functional space. While, of course, the main purpose of the building is to provide the best and most practical care for patients, creating a space that’s both usable and desirable is entirely possible.

That’s why, at David Bailey, we like to think about the little details that make all the difference. We were very proud to have been asked last year to fit out the brand new state-of-the-art cancer care unit at Guy’s Hospital in London. As well as making the unit functional and fit for purpose, Guy’s wanted to ensure it was as uplifting as possible.

Patients and members of the tight knit local community were heavily involved with the project, contributing both practical and design ideas to ensure the unit was both useful and mood lifting. We were determined to work closely with the community to combine our furniture expertise with ensuring patient needs and wants were catered for.

Work on the new unit began in June 2015 and was completed in March 2016. Everyone involved in the project agreed that having colourful fittings would make the space feel more homely, cheerful and less clinical, therefore enhancing the patient experience. Red, orange, yellow and green were the vibrant colours chosen to decorate the unit. The fully fitted new look unit will open to its first patients in autumn 2016.

Trevor Gillman, David Bailey’s Managing Director, said: “We have been manufacturing furniture specifically for the healthcare industry for 33 years now and we pride ourselves on the service we provide and the quality of our fitted storage solutions.  We are very excited to have been part of such a ground breaking project for cancer treatment in our capital city.”