Watch the Retractable Screen film on Vimeo.
Designers at the Helen Hamlyn Centre, Royal College of Art, were challenged to design a product or service that effectively separates male and female patients on NHS wards.
Designing the retractable screen
The brief asked teams to consider patients’ needs while also giving staff the flexibility to change areas at short notice.
Screen construction
A middle ground between a curtain and a wall, their solution is a retractable screen, made from fabric sheets stretched across a plastic rib frame.
Concertina construction
It can be pulled out concertina-style to create a barrier across or down the middle of the ward, and it’s lightweight enough that nursing staff can pull it out easily, and the fabric can be cleaned in situ, or taken off for deep-cleaning in an industrial washing-machine.