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Voluntary Euthanasia Center, Isle of Man

Part 2 Project 2004
Lisa Sheridan
Sam Diston
 Newcastle University | UK
The Isle of Man Government is currently debating the legalisation of assisted suicide. This thesis explores the idea that if euthanasia were to become lawful, it should be required to take place within a controlled environment, disassociated from the institutes of life preservation so as to maintain faith in doctors as life preservers, an alternative from hospice for patients who wish to die.

Through the application of ritual, derived from sociology, anthropology and ethnography, this new building typology seeks to address secular society’s demise of rituals that once surrounded death. The theory explored is one of architecture as an expression of our ‘Rites of Passage’, where sentiment is expressed through the architecture embodying the psychological comfort of ritual.


To design a building for the purpose of Voluntary Euthanasia is a daunting challenge, but the emotional and spiritual passion that Lisa gave to this project produced a level of research rarely seen at Diploma level. The building itself is beautifully simple, a poetic place and sensitive setting to explore the sublime rituals of departure. This is a building that plays with your emotions as you negotiate the delicate thresholds between public and private space. Carefully chosen materials are brought to life as natural light refracts off the surface of rippling water beneath you as you make your journey through the dream-like spaces. I can imagine this building whispering to you, inspiring your deepest thoughts and memories. If I had to choose to die anywhere, it would be here.
Tutor(s)
2004
catalyst: “to enable a competent adult who is suffering unbearably as a result of a terminal or a serious and progressive illness to receive medical help to die at his own considered and persistent request". Patient Assisted Dying Bill
current debate: The majority of physician-assisted suicides currently take place either in sterile hospital environments or at the patients’ home where there are no controls and improvisation. Patient accounts describe distressing failed attempts.
essence _ ritual : “There is no ritual for euthanasia the way we know it, because this is a rare occurrence in history… there is a stronger call for ritual because we have to deal with a more accurate prognosis.” Dr Bert Keizer ‘Dancing with Mr D´
resultant ritual analysis, part 1: Diagrammatical synopsis of the ‘Rites of Passage’s’ that the dying patient, family and friends, and staff of the centre would encounter during the dying and the bereavement process.
part 2: This diagram encompasses the physical and emotional thresholds that the building aims to embody and has been referred to scrupulously throughout the scheme, from site analysis to materiality.
site analysis: The choice of site was influenced by the desire not to isolate the patients from the social order, whilst allowing the potential for privacy and isolation.
ground floor plan _ main hospice: Inevitably the application of ritual has primarily generated the spatial arrangement of the scheme. It intrinsically called for a sequence of defined spaces and events, a progression from the profane to the sacred.
first floor plan _ bereavement counselling: The social objective of the scheme was to incorporate specialist facilities for bereavement counselling for both the public and the medical profession.
section GG _ part 1: The sequence of defined spaces, places and events move from the profane public space, to the separation of more sacred intimate spaces of private prayer and final transition through the main hospice.
part 2: The patient suites are designed to be individual elements off the main corridor and not just a passage of doorways. A bridge over a shallow reflection pool represents the transition to their private space.
part 3: The upper floor of the memorial chapel can be accessed by those inside the hospice should they wish to be within a truly sacred space. The public have access to the lower level from the memorial garden allowing for memorial services after death.
sections _CC: The emotional emphasis of the scheme is on the personal and individual death, reflecting contemporary society’s attitudes. Each patient suite is designed to feel removed and private separated from the communal areas.
use of water: The transitions experienced in the building are emphasised through the controlled manipulation of water, adding an innate mythical quality to the building.
internal render: The curve of building means that the spaces are one of discovery and those inside do not feel as though they are on a linear path with only one objective.
exterior model: A place has been provided to embody the psychological comfort of ritual at a transition in life where it is needed most, which “may be conscious or not, and it may be an orientation rather than a specific action.” Davies, John, Ph. D.
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