Completed in 2012 and delivered through an adapted PFI process, the £275m hospital is sited on a 20ha greenfield site on the edge of Enniskillen. It has been described as a benchmark for European hospital design. The scheme has remained true to its initial concept, which placed landscape at the heart of the hospital, evolved through several design principles. These included:

• bringing nature to the windowpane (extending the natural landscape right up to the built envelope);

• creation of the Linear Gardens (the 400m-long gardens that act as the spine to the buildings, providing vital outlook and amenity while reinforcing natural wayfinding);

• inside/outside (aiding navigation and reducing stress by designing all principal internal spaces with views over either the surrounding landscape or into the Linear Gardens);

• rewetting the wetlands (combining an extensive sustainable drainage system with the rehabilitation of endangered wetlands);

• use of local natural materials to help create a sense of home from home;

• a colour scheme that generates a sense of calm through whites and greens;

• maximising liveliness through awareness of season/weather and positively encouraging use of the site by local fauna; and

• facilitating health (assessment courtyards, trim trail, and extensive walking routes).

The public are free to access the whole site and much of the ground oor of the main building. Other initiatives consolidate interaction with the local community.

The design works with the attributes of the site and its local context, echoing and using local elements in the environment. At the same time, it maximises selective awareness of this surrounding landscape, some of which is exceptionally serene. This extended to the use of local workers and the local sourcing of materials wherever possible, helping ensure that the hospital was part of the community well before it opened. It retains that key relationship.