New Bupa interiors care of J&W

Jestico & Whiles has developed an interiors concept for Bupa’s 36 UK hospitals, as part of a six-figure project.

Jestico & Whiles has developed an interiors concept for Bupa’s 36 UK hospitals, as part of a six-figure project.

A prototype of the new approach will be completed at the Wellesley hospital in September and tested for a couple of months. The roll-out programme will take three years once response to the prototype has been evaluated and built in to the final design.

Jestico & Whiles won the business following an unpaid concepts pitch against Frederick Gibberd Partnership, Fitch, FutureBrand and Beaumont & Cowling last September. A Bupa spokesman says the winner was ‘able to bring a new interpretation’ to the brief. ‘It was unencumbered by previous conceptions and while not having hospital experience, it demonstrated the ability to get to grips with what we are about,’ he adds.

The brief was to come up with a differentiated environment that reflects Bupa’s core values and brand values, which the spokes-man lists as: caring, respectful, ethical, dedicated, enabling and accountable.

The consultancy created three approaches, which were researched with patients, visitors and staff at Bupa hospitals in January and February. One was very much hospitality-oriented with the emphasis on comfort, says Jestico & Whiles director Tony Ingram. Another was ‘more domestic in its bias’ and designed to make people feel immediately at home, and the final approach was more clinical.

The Wellesley prototype encompasses elements of all three approaches. The interior design is based on a warm beige colour with backlit or highlighted areas of blue, which range from ‘bold and vibrant’ in the reception areas to calming shades in bedrooms. Throughout the design curves and eased edges are used to soften the look.

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