Designing for Dignity: Hill Cross Furniture at Overgate Hospice

Hospice interiors ask a lot of furniture.

It must support patients with complex and changing needs, work for clinical and care teams, withstand intensive daily use and make life easier for visiting families. Yet the finished environment should feel as far removed from an institution as possible, with comfort, familiarity and a sense of home taking precedence.

Balancing those demands has become a growing area of expertise for Hill Cross Furniture. Alongside its work on Overgate Hospice‘s landmark Big Build redevelopment in West Yorkshire, the team is currently working on further hospice schemes with interior designer Elaine Lewis, including North London Hospice and Hospice in the Weald.

Hill Cross Furniture brings specialist hospice design expertise to Overgate’s Big Build

The relationship with Overgate Hospice extended beyond the project itself. Following completion of the new Inpatient Unit, colleagues from Hill Cross felt inspired to sign up to the hospice’s Big Bikeathon fundraising challenge. Choosing the event’s longest advertised route, a virtual Land’s End to John O’Groats ride, the team completed all 1,042 miles on static bikes and raised £1,452 for the charity.

Family Lounge

At Overgate Hospice, Hill Cross supplied loose furniture alongside bespoke modular seating for the new 16-bedroom Inpatient Unit, helping to create interiors that balance durability and practicality with the comfort and reassurance expected in a hospice setting.

One of the Inpatient Unit Bedrooms, complete with private terrace

Every bedroom has been designed to help patients feel as comfortable and at home as possible. Each includes an en-suite bathroom, a private terrace overlooking the hospice gardens and a sofa bed, allowing loved ones to stay overnight. Every room is named after a flower, with bespoke wall murals bringing colour and a distinct identity to each space.

Hill Cross also furnished the new Family Lounge, providing comfortable seating and dining furniture for relatives who need somewhere to rest, share a meal or simply spend time together away from the bedside while remaining close to loved ones.

A standout feature of the scheme is the bespoke modular seating created for the north and south wings. As part of its wider design support, Hill Cross worked with Elaine on furniture space planning and developing the modular configurations, looking at how individual units could work together within the available footprint while meeting the practical requirements of the space.

This type of design development has become an important part of the team’s work with Elaine. Rather than simply supplying specified products, Hill Cross can help explore furniture layouts, configure modular seating and develop solutions around the way a space needs to function.

At Overgate, the resulting seating provides flexibility while contributing to the calm, residential feel that runs throughout the new building.

Bespoke modular seating

For Elaine Lewis, the success of hospice projects comes from understanding how every space will be used, not just by patients but by everyone involved in their care.

She said:

“Designing hospice environments is about creating spaces that feel comforting and uplifting while standing up to the demands of a busy clinical setting. Comfort, support and durability are every bit as important as creating interiors that are warm, stylish and welcoming.

Hill Cross are excellent to work with because the support goes beyond sourcing the furniture. They’ll work through layouts with me, help develop modular configurations and find alternatives when we need them, which is particularly valuable as a scheme evolves. Communication is prompt, quotations are turned around quickly and the team have endless patience with revisions! The bespoke modular seating in the north and south wings has become a real highlight of Overgate.”

The approach has been refined over a number of hospice projects with Elaine, including Martlets Hospice, St David’s Hospice and Severn Hospice. One part of that collaboration that has become particularly valuable is the Sample Showcase.

Rather than relying solely on drawings and material samples, Hill Cross brings together key pieces of furniture for people from across the hospice community to experience before final decisions are made. Patients and their families are invited to take part alongside nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, housekeeping teams and other departments, assessing comfort, ergonomics and practicality and giving the design team valuable feedback before orders are placed 

The process not only helps refine the final specification but also gives staff a sense of ownership over the finished environment, encouraging long-term care of the furniture once the building is in use.

Josh Dowson, Product & Sales Manager at Hill Cross Furniture, said:

“Every hospice project teaches us something new. Bringing together the people who use these spaces every day gives us insights that simply are not possible from drawings and fabric samples alone.

The Sample Showcase has become an important part of our process because it gives everyone a voice. The feedback helps us refine the specification and means the finished environment works just as well for the clinical teams as it does for patients and their families.”

Family room

The partnership between Hill Cross Furniture and Overgate Hospice is continuing through Phase Two of the hospice’s Big Build redevelopment. Due for installation later this year, the next phase will include a new Activity Room, Social Hub and Therapy Rooms, helping to further expand the facilities available to patients and their loved ones.

For Hill Cross Furniture, Overgate Hospice is the latest chapter in an expanding portfolio of hospice projects across the UK. While every scheme is different, the principle remains the same: creating environments that support excellent care while feeling as welcoming and reassuring as home.

Big Bikeathon team photograph

Photography by Alisdair McIntosh

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