Designs unveiled for new Leeds General Infirmary hospitals on site of Old Nurses’ Home

The new hospitals will be built at Leeds General Infirmary, on the site of the Old Nurses’ Home on Calverley Street.

As part of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT)'s 'Hospitals of the Future' programme, demolition work for the project began last year.

One of the hospitals will deliver a range of adult health services and the second will be the new home for Leeds Children’s Hospital.

Architecture firm BDP has been appointed by the Trust to lead the design, using ideas such as outdoor space and play areas suggested by children and young patients in a design competition held last year.

The unveiling of the new design concepts, at an event on Wednesday, August 4, was attended by eight-year-old Mia Casey from Leeds, who had heart surgery at Leeds Children’s Hospital in 2015.

Mia’s mother, Vicky, healthcare architect and head of business development at BDP’s Leeds studio, said: “As a Leeds resident, and a parent of a child who has been cared for by the Trust, I know first-hand how vital it is that the new hospitals are built for, and around, the local community.

“The Trust sent us design ideas from local children and parents about what they wanted from their new hospitals, and they were passionate about creating a comforting experience for people in the most difficult of times, whilst they receive the very best treatment from the NHS.

“As a result, the new hospital will be the most supportive, stimulating, engaging and interesting place to visit, full of green areas, comfortable spaces and interesting art - an exemplar, world-class hospital and workplace, leading the way in hospital design, not just for the north of England but for the wider NHS.”

One such young designer who shared her views of how the new children’s hospital should look was 16-year-old Isabelle Plowman, who was the winner of the Daring Designers competition for her age category.

Isabelle’s design included safe, calm, communal outdoor spaces that can be enjoyed by patients and their families.

Former Leeds and Liverpool football star Dominic Matteo was also in attendance, having received lifesaving treatment at Leeds General Infirmary for a brain tumour in 2019.

Dominic said: “From my point of view the care at the hospital is second to none. I can’t praise the hospital enough.

"It was absolutely amazing from top to bottom. Everyone was so friendly and compassionate and made me feel at ease and I’m really pleased that along with excellent new facilities for patients there’s also an emphasis staff well-being in the new designs.”

Inspired by the Yorkshire landscape, BDP has proposed a hospital structure that is shaped like the contours of the county's fells and dales, with a large island garden and play deck at its centre.