Art in Site

Wolf, Evelina CRF

Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust

200 million!

Did you know that Wolves have about 200 million scent cells? Humans have only 5 million! This is one of the amazing facts to learn in Wolf department. The children who come here have Proportionate Short Stature(PSS): their body will be small, and in typical proportions. Visits are brief, but very important: they contribute to ongoing research to understand PSS better, through observations, monitoring, and height records.

Nonetheless, being observed can feel weird! So we decided to make artwork that would celebrate the researcher-patient relationship in a positive light, emphasising the friendly, compassionate approach of the clinicians who work here.

We worked with illustrator Kiriko Kubo to develop a range of arctic wolves, who playfully inhabit the department interior, at low heights where patients can see them properly. Some are sleeping, some cuddle into their mothers for warmth, others play-fight, and one of even stares back, making eye contact… They’re all at ease in their environment. But the wolves are not alone! Human field researchers are observing them, and making measurements.

The symbolism is simple: the patients are like the wolves, and the doctors are like the arctic researchers. Kiriko’s drawings manage – with only a few lines – to convey a depth to these relationships: the field researchers are gentle, curious, and respectful of the wolves, and at points wolf and human share moments of play, curiosity, and mutual interest.

Art in Site‘s Celia Knox devised an interior design scheme that brings the whole environment to life, encompassing the illustrated wolves and researchers, along with beautiful intersecting colourful shapes, bedheads, signage, and fun facts about wolves and the arctic. The coloured shapes are rendered in the same material as the clinical wall protection. This keeps costs down, ensures easy maintenance, and makes for seamless integration between art and environment. It’s a sophisticated approach that manages to do a lot with very little.

Praise for CRF

“People have said how bright and beautiful it is. Children go around the walls following the images and tracing them. They have used the Evelina colours everywhere which is great. Parents who have come to us before so know what it was like previously say it’s amazing and was worth the wait”

- Matron, Allergy Services

This case study is part of the wider “Evelina Clinical Research Facility (CRF)” project – featuring three departments incorporating art, interior design, playful journeys, and colour. See Projects for all Evelina CRF case studies.

The artwork has been supported by Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity, which helps create a world-class environment for patients, staff and visitors at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. Find out more at www.supportgstt.org.uk.

Date 2020

Sector Healthcare

Service Children's Allergies, Outpatients

Commissioned Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Trust

Artist Art in Site, Kiriko Kubo

User Group Children & Families