Historic hospital’s fitting replacement

The design and feel of Foss Park – which is nearing completion by Wates Construction – required that it should not only ‘not look or feel like a hospital’, but should also echo the heritage of the much-loved eighteenth century facility it has effectively replaced, while ‘revoking entirely’ the feeling of the asylums of earlier days. 

‘We have come a long way’ is a comment I often hear within the circles of designing for mental health. Indeed, clinicians will often reflect on the provision of care over the past 30 years, and remark on the advancement and understanding of many specialist areas of mental healthcare. With this in mind, when tasked with reviewing modern mental health in the Vale of York, it was with nervousness and excitement that we at P+HS Architects began our journey working with Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust. The brief not only included the review of the existing Bootham Park Hospital in York, but also future options for inpatient care for the people of York and the surrounding areas.

So, how far have we come? Bootham Park Hospital was purpose built in 1774 to provide accommodation for the ‘mentally infirm’. The healthcare facility was one of the first of its kind; indeed the recognition of the need to care for people who needed either acute care, or were unsuitable to be ‘sent to the workhouse’ had been highlighted in the press in 1772. The need for a ‘Lunatic Asylum’ was raised by a local journalist’s article, and led to the creation of the ‘County Lunatic Asylum, York’. Later named Bootham Park Hospital, it incorporated a celebratory plaque, revealed upon the hospital’s opening, which announced: ‘This Building was erected on general subscription in the year 1774 for the reception and relief of the Insane’.