The Tiled Corridor

Royal Edinburgh Hospital

The Tiled Corridor was created and designed especially for a new build at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, by artist Frances Priest. It was commissioned in close collaboration with patients & staff of the hospital, the leading psychiatric facility for Edinburgh & the Lothians and a specialised unit for brain injuries across Scotland.

The building is home to 11 acute psychiatric and older people’s dementia inpatient wards. Recognising that environment is key to wellbeing, the brief was crucially developed with the hospital community to create a colourful, non-clinical, tactile space that they could engage with daily.

The Tiled Corridor is a major thoroughfare leading from the main entrance to older people’s & dementia wards, as well as occupational therapy and staff rooms. It is created from hand-cast and hand-sculpted tiles, created in a range of relief designs and fired in rich, jewel-like glazes. Out-with Covid-19, the hospital community is encouraged to interact with the artwork; to touch its contours and cool surface as they walk through it. This tactile, sensory element was especially designed for the engagement of dementia patients.

The scheme was designed to highlight a space where patients and staff might pause, look out at the landscaped gardens and rest in the window alcoves. This non-clinical space allows a sensory-rich contrast to the rest of the clean, modernist building and also acts as a key way-finding point.

Frances Priest took hospital’s heritage as a starting point and the opulent tiles of Craighouse, part of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Motifs and colours influenced the bright teal and golden ochre shapes featured in the final designs. The commission also brings echoes of domesticity to the hospital, as such elaborately tiled schemes can often be found in the communal stairways of Scottish residential Tenements, or ‘Closes’.

Frances led craft workshops with staff and patients across the hospital and involved clay work, tile and pattern making and therapeutic tactile shape making. These workshops delivered meaningful engagement activity for the hospital community and also provided ideas for how the designs should develop, influencing the final colours, shapes and contours. These ideas were balanced with the practicalities of designing the complex scheme, all completed within budget. Frances installed the work after the hospital opened, allowing engagement and conversation with staff and patients across a number of days.

As well as creating the smaller detailed tiles in her studio, Frances worked with traditional tile manufacturer Craven Dunnill Jackfield, est. 1872 – whose clients include the Houses of Parliament and London Underground – to make the larger bespoke tiles. Tonic Arts were delighted that the commission supported traditional British craft manufacturing and used a sustainable, long-lasting material. The robust nature of the tiles also means that the artwork can be regularly cleaned, key from an infection control perspective.

The Royal Edinburgh Hospital Community is delighted that it has commissioned such a powerful and innovative artwork. It is very proud of its Tiled Corridor.

I first heard about the Tiled Corridor during the commissioning and design stage and was impressed with the intricacies and care clearly taken in Frances’s design and the high quality materials that were going to be used; even the choice of the tile-makers with their craftsmanship and ceramic heritage seeming to be well thought-out and considered. We were shown samples before installation – the whole thing had a jewel-like quality of attention to detail and I awaited the final installation with interest.

“The process of installing the tiles was done in a respectful and pleasant way: I noticed lots of nice interactions between Frances’ team, patients and staff as it all went up on the walls. I think the overall effect is extremely pleasing, welcoming and comforting. The new hospital building is quite clinical… The Tiled Corridor makes the first trip to the wards a bit more familiar, warm and less alien. The colours, shapes and materials remind me of some Glasgow tenement stairwells I’ve visited and make the journey through the hospital seem more hospitable, relatable and reassuring.”

Simon Porter, Coordinator, Royal Edinburgh Hospital Patients Council

It reminds me of an old Scottish close, it’s lovely.”

Royal Edinburgh Hospital Patients, Care of the Elderly

It breaks up the clinical nature of the hospital corridors. I think it’s lovely, bright and tactile.”

Vanessa Campbell Recreation Nurse, Patients from Craiglockhart Ward (Acute Psychiatric Ward)

I love this corridor and it was the first thing I noticed on my first day working for the Royal Edinburgh Hospital. It’s both a fantastic passageway & a relaxation area”

Brian McAuley, new Royal Edinburgh Hospital General Manager

Frances’ craft workshops were great as they were tailored to the participants’ abilities and the patients really enjoyed them. They especially liked the fact that they got to keep their finished ceramic tile artworks after they had been fired & glazed.”

Becky Brazil, Royal Edinburgh Hospital Arts Manager

The Tiled Corridor has quickly become a ‘go-to’ destination for art enthusiasts, encouraging public engagement with the hospital, and even features in the recently published Secret Edinburgh: An Unusual Guide.