Inspired by Jurassic plant fossils, such as Cycads, Tree Ferns, Magnolias, Monkey Puzzle and Gingko, the concept was developed by way of a distinct colour palette and abstract patternmaking. The building's two floors deliver independent services - Radiotherapy Cancer Unit and Cancer + Haematology Outpatients via Poole and Dorset County Hospitals; however, it is important that the spirit and visual language of the artwork links the two floors and presents a welcoming yet quiet and un-challenging united front to all those visiting & working on this site.

The Jurassic Coast Trust and the Abbotsbury Sub-Tropical Gardens nr Weymouth, have both been influential. The coastal geology has been a particular fascination for me, with stones and fossils being very much the theme of the first floor Outpatients department.

The unit will serve people of all ages, who have been diagnosed with cancer as well as their families. Patients who use this service are likely to be distressed and for some people, they may be living with a terminal diagnosis. The unit will be home to new linear accelerators (LINAC) – the device used for external beam radiation treatments for patients with cancer. It will be a multi-functional space offering life changing radiotherapy, consulting rooms and counselling rooms.

This project for the new Radiotherapy and Cancer + Haematology Outpatients Unit was similarly inspired by a walk along the Jurassic Coast made in 2008. I was hoping to find myself an ammonite to take home. I found nothing to take home, but saw many fossils encased in rock by the shore in the steep Blue Lias cliff beds that also contain giant plesiosaur fossils. The horizontal bedded layers look like individual drawers each opening to a prehistoric world.

I was also allowed free time to spend in the Dorset Museum Archives amongst boxes and drawers and piles of specimen stones and fossils. The way these objects were carefully curated and stored – often in intricate patterns and collections of similar sizes and or type was inspiring and reminded me of my collections at home and of how precious they are to me. 

The artwork has grown out of this fascination. The stones I have created are imaginary in colour and pattern, although informed by nature. They are perhaps stones I would like to find. Stones I would hold in my imagination to remind me of journeys I have made and places I have been.

Some years ago, a long-standing close friend of my dad was being treated for cancer. He and his wife had often been to Elgol on the shores of Lock Skavaig on the Isle of Skye. They loved this place. I too had been there and as is the case – and now slightly frowned upon – I picked up some stones from a stream bed. The stones were small, but smooth & beautifully polished to a honed satin finish by the action of water. They could be held in the hand and moved around. The feeling of them was somehow special and resonant. I still have them now, wrapped in a cloth bag for fear of damaging them. I sent one of these stones to dad’s friend. In doing that I think we had a non-verbal conversation at distance about place and memories. I like to think it was re-assuring for both of us.

I have always picked up stones. They represent something unique about place, time, and experience. Geology is eternally fascinating and fills me with wonder.

I live by the sea in Ramsgate on the Kent Coast. I walk on the beach most days. I have found many sea urchin fossils. Each has a unique story. Each stone can still trigger memories of where and when it was found, what the weather was like…was the tide in or out.

Ten years ago, I created artwork for wayfinding and inlaid bespoke floors for the corridors of the main hospital buildings and for Maiden Castle House, which provides Psychiatric Services for the Trust. This original body of work, completed in collaboration with Tarkett in 2010 was considered a resonant starting point for this new project in 2018 and has been instrumental in underpinning the artwork created for the new Cancer Unit.

Alex Coulter, former Arts Manager, Arts in Hospital writing in 2008 said –

‘The artist, Chris Tipping, researched and recorded geological structures, fossils and land forms along the Jurassic coast as the basis for his designs. He made drawings on the coast and in Dorset County Museum’s collections and talked to geologists based at Southampton University to help inform his ideas.  Chris was interested in the idea that the floors in the hospital could be interpreted as the layers or strata of the coast with fossil like patterns embedded in them and fragments and elements emerging where different layers meet. They are inlaid into the floor at key areas such as lift thresholds and at the top of staircases to help with wayfinding while smaller elements break up long expanses of corridor. It was Chris’s idea to curve the edges of the flooring and to reveal sections of designs rather as you might see a fragment in the cliff. The technology used is sophisticated with laser cutting creating elements which fit together with no need for sealant in-between. His designs enliven what would otherwise be vast expanses of plain flooring and contribute to making the hospital environment more stimulating and appealing for patients – a healing environment’.

The following text was taken from the 2018 project brief by Alex Murdin, Arts Manager of Arts in Hospital at Dorset County Hospital.

‘Initial consultation with patients and staff suggested that the theme of the Cancer Unit artworks should evolve around nature and light, “Letting in the Light”. Medical and psychological evidence is strong that natural images, textures, patterns, and light are all beneficial for wellbeing and recovery. Contact with Nature has been reported to have psychological benefits by reducing stress, improving attention, by having a positive effect on mental restoration, and by coping with attention deficits.

Natural light is important to healing and wellbeing and patients with views of open spaces get better faster. As the views from the new Cancer Unit will be limited to other hospital buildings