Futurecity wrote the Arts Strategy for Royal Papworth Hospital as part of its relocation from Papworth Everard to the heart of Cambridge Biomedical Campus.

Royal Papworth is the UK’s largest and most reputable heart and lung hospital. It currently treats over 22,800 inpatient and day cases and 53,400 outpatients each year from across the UK. The new 310 bed hospital provides state-of-the-art cardiothoracic services with some of the world’s leading specialists.

The Arts Strategy created the ‘The Living Building’ concept, and conceived opportunities for embedding contemporary art throughout the hospital environment from the grand scale of the entrances to the intimate scale of private interview rooms for patients’ families.

The concept focussed on natural rhythms including the 24hr day and the annual seasons. It embraced the approach of art engaging the 5 senses and connecting hospital staff, patients and visitors to the natural world.

Public Art Programme

Futurecity delivered an artist residency and four major permanent public art commissions at Royal Papworth Hospital as part of its approved Arts Strategy:

Engaging Main Entrances – Adam Ball created illuminated glass façades using hand-cut microscopic imagery and programmable lighting to reflect time and season.

Outpatient Waiting Room & Critical Care – Sigune Hamann installed panoramic and lightbox artworks of local landscapes and skies to support calm, connection and reflection.

Bespoke Inpatient Bedrooms – Stefanie Posavec embedded 192 unique patient data artworks on glass room dividers, enhancing privacy and identity.

Thematic Orientation & Identity – Thomas Matthews designed a site-wide colour-coded wayfinding system inspired by natural elements.

Artist-in-Residence – Lucy Steggals, in partnership with Wysing Arts, led ‘Florulary’, exploring Papworth’s floral history through co-created bedding, portraits and a legacy publication.