European Healthcare Design Award shortlisting for The Catkin Centre and Sunflower House

The Catkin Centre and Sunflower House at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital has been shortlisted for a 2024 Salus European Healthcare Design Award (under 25,000sqm).

The award recognises outstanding healthcare projects worldwide in a community or primary care setting that demonstrate high levels of sustainability and urban integration, transforming the quality of care services in an accessible location, and supporting the integrated needs of staff, patients, and the community.

Underpinning the transparency of the judging process and offering attendees greater insight into the winning projects, the next stage of judging will be hosted live online from 7th to 17th May.

We will be presenting The Catkin Centre and Sunflower House to the judges on 15th May, 12.30 - 2pm. You can register for the session via the awards website.

Designed for patients’ mental wellbeing, The Catkin Centre and Sunflower House pioneers a new approach to clinical buildings by connecting to the natural world.

The Alder Hey project brings together in two connected buildings a range of facilities that were previously scattered across the hospital site and the city of Liverpool. The Catkin Centre provides a new home for outpatient services, while Sunflower House provides a 12-bed inpatient mental health unit for children aged 5-13 with the most challenging mental health conditions.

The new buildings form part of a ‘Health Campus’ at Alder Hey, offering a joined-up approach to the treatment of physical and mental health for children and young adults. The buildings and the spaces between buildings have been designed to accentuate opportunities for planting, walks through landscape and views to create a holistic approach to “health in nature”.