light and dark – Sensing Spaces of Healthcare: NHS Sensory Memory Bank

Memory #43

I remember… The light – bright & welcoming. The atmosphere – busy but efficient & always friendly.

Memory #27

From 1971

I remember… Going to hospital as a 9 year old to visit my dad, in a hospital I ended up working in. Whenever I passed the window where he would wave to us from the ward, and would always think of him, which would make me sad as an adult as I was older than him then (he died of cancer). As part of his treatment he got transferred to a hospital (1971) in a different area … We went to visit him on the respiratory ward – the other hospital was a workhouse but this one was modern – it seemed very airy. The windows seemed bigger with lots of sunlight, the workhouse one seemed to me as a child to be dark. I didn’t like leaving him there. If you go to 5 hospitals in a 10 mile radius, they all have a different atmosphere and their own way of doing things.

Memory #37

I remember… Antiseptic smell, voices, difference in lighting, some people rushing around, some more relaxed, telephones, equipment sounds

Memory #15

From 1982

I remember… Possibly link to trauma of visiting someone after a serious accident – walking in to a long, dark ward (green?) with metal framed beds (cream) in long rows either rise. Small windows up high making it feel depressingly like a prison.