Stained glass windows featuring the three Sisters who founded the First Cottage Hospital were discovered locked away in a dusty room. We designed a mural that took on elements of the stained glass windows, using colours of bright oranges, yellows and reds to bestow an overall glow of summer sunlight through glass. Details of cherubs, lion heads and wreaths were taken from the windows to enhance the design. Specially illustrated borders were created to imitate leaded stained glass panels, and we also commissioned a wooden frame with a metallic finish to blend with the leading.

We were commissioned by Margaret McGloin, of South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust, to design a mural to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the opening of the country's First Cottage Hospital in Middlesbrough. The artwork is sited in the James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, opposite the Chapel of the Good Samaritan. On 7 March 2009 the mural was dedicated by the Archdeacon of Cleveland at a special service.

Stained glass windows had originally been situated in the chapel at North Ormesby Hospital and have now been fully restored and proudly sited in the North Ormesby Health Village. Photographs of these windows were incorporated as the centrepiece of the finished mural. The mural portrays the hospital's history with detailed text along with many old photos and illustrations.

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"Healthcare has evolved remarkably over the years, but part of its rich history did begin here in Middlesbrough when Sister Mary Jaques, of Coatham, founded the first cottage hospital in Dundas Mews, which is now a shopping centre. It seemed fitting to mark this anniversary in some way at James Cook and the mural was commissioned as part of the trust's arts programme."

Rev Malcolm Masterman, Lead Chaplain