Laurie's ward. Also, things to do with eggs
I went to Birmingham today to see the new Teenage Cancer Trust unit at Birmingham Children's Hospital, which is what we've been raising money for through the Laurie Engel Fund. It's due to open to patients in January.
The aim is to have a cool place for teenagers, because when Laurie was ill there were facilities for adults and facilities for small children, and nothing in between.
Exterior of ward - I forgot to take a picture in daylight. It looks a bit like a smaller version of the Lord's Media Centre. They had to build it on stilts over existing buildings because there wasn't any space on the ground.
You can get an idea of what it's like from this artist's impression - I haven't found any online photos of the finished version.
It's designed to host up to six teenagers. These are the bedrooms, though they haven't got the hospital beds in yet so it's not immediately obvious. There are also fold-out beds for parents, and desks. The walls are plain white because they're intended to be decorated by the patients' own choice of pictures etc. Also there's the lighting...
This doesn't really convey the effect of the lighting, because the flash has watered it down, and made it look as if it's only in the skylight. But you can programme it in about six different colours, so that the walls of the room effectively become whatever colour you want. The thing on the ceiling is a TV and DVD player for watching in bed. There's a bigger TV in the communal area.
This is one of the bathrooms, with a bath on which patients can be lowered into the water. There were showers, too, but they weren't quite as exciting.
Then there are these den areas along the opening corridor, for lounging around in...
Or just sitting with visitors, or whatever. I think you can plug laptops in here; it's intended the patients should have access to laptops all over the place.
We all got very excited by the jukebox (you can also plug your iPod in to play your own choice of music). There's also a pool table, hence the cues.
Another shot of the jukebox, with its reflection. This is a big window looking out over the street (Matthew said the only snag was that the view was a permanent loop of Birmingham, and never switched to San Francisco or Sydney).
Meanwhile, on the way home, I read the review of last night's television in The Guardian, featuring a programme called The Restaurant. It could only be Nancy Banks-Smith. My favourite bit was "JJ, who could not boil an egg if his only defence against Somalian pirates was a fusillade of hard-boiled eggs..."
The aim is to have a cool place for teenagers, because when Laurie was ill there were facilities for adults and facilities for small children, and nothing in between.
Exterior of ward - I forgot to take a picture in daylight. It looks a bit like a smaller version of the Lord's Media Centre. They had to build it on stilts over existing buildings because there wasn't any space on the ground.
You can get an idea of what it's like from this artist's impression - I haven't found any online photos of the finished version.
It's designed to host up to six teenagers. These are the bedrooms, though they haven't got the hospital beds in yet so it's not immediately obvious. There are also fold-out beds for parents, and desks. The walls are plain white because they're intended to be decorated by the patients' own choice of pictures etc. Also there's the lighting...
This doesn't really convey the effect of the lighting, because the flash has watered it down, and made it look as if it's only in the skylight. But you can programme it in about six different colours, so that the walls of the room effectively become whatever colour you want. The thing on the ceiling is a TV and DVD player for watching in bed. There's a bigger TV in the communal area.
This is one of the bathrooms, with a bath on which patients can be lowered into the water. There were showers, too, but they weren't quite as exciting.
Then there are these den areas along the opening corridor, for lounging around in...
Or just sitting with visitors, or whatever. I think you can plug laptops in here; it's intended the patients should have access to laptops all over the place.
We all got very excited by the jukebox (you can also plug your iPod in to play your own choice of music). There's also a pool table, hence the cues.
Another shot of the jukebox, with its reflection. This is a big window looking out over the street (Matthew said the only snag was that the view was a permanent loop of Birmingham, and never switched to San Francisco or Sydney).
Meanwhile, on the way home, I read the review of last night's television in The Guardian, featuring a programme called The Restaurant. It could only be Nancy Banks-Smith. My favourite bit was "JJ, who could not boil an egg if his only defence against Somalian pirates was a fusillade of hard-boiled eggs..."