Princess Royal University Hospital

Camberwell College of Arts’ MA Designer Maker students create a permanent organ donation memorial for Princess Royal University Hospital, London.

Project summary

MA Designer Maker students from Camberwell College of Arts have designed a permanent organ donation memorial for the gardens at Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH). The installation was unveiled during Organ Donation Week.

The project, commissioned by King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and NHS Organ Donation, honours organ donors, recipients, their families, friends, staff and members of the wider community.

The memorial highlights the profound importance of organ donation, serving both as a commemorative space and to raise awareness of the life-saving impact of donation.

It is the outcome of a 9-month collaboration between Camberwell College of Arts, Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH), NHS Organ Donation and King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

The design was developed by MA Designer Maker students Jae Wilkinson, Kailey Shakerin, Labdhi Jain, Mingqian Yang (Cloud), Mingxuan Li, Yuning Huang, and Zijian Xu and led by Yuning Huang.

This project is part of an ongoing collaboration between Camberwell and Chelsea Colleges of Arts and King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Design outcome

The design comprises 9 cast concrete arc benches arranged in a circle. The benches, each featuring an inspiring word, celebrate the fact that a single organ donor can transform or save up to 9 lives. At the centre, a floor tile features a Möbius strip, representing the continuity of life through organ donation.

Bright colours were incorporated into the concrete casting process - blue, purple and magenta, to reflect both the NHS and organ donation colours, responding directly to requests from donor families that the memorial be uplifting and vibrant.

Together, these elements create a space where people can meet, socialise, relax and contemplate, whilst at the same time placing the power and generosity of organ donation at the heart of the hospital.

Design process

Students followed a carefully structured process that combined academic learning with professional practice. The students were supported by MA Designer Maker Course Leader Oscar Lessing.

They engaged in in-depth consultations with the hospital executive team, donor families, transplant recipients and the wider organ donation community. Through site visits, public engagement events and iterative design reviews, they tested and refined their ideas before uniting the strongest elements into a single, coherent vision.

The final installation was fabricated by Conscious Forms, who worked closely with the student team and UAL staff.