ABSTRACT
The modern hospice movement grows out of a complex history of building types associated with the root etymology of the Latin word hospitium – hospital, hostel, hotel and hospitality. All are places where visitors, guests, pilgrims or those in physical or spiritual need are welcomed and cared for. Since the eighteenth century there has been considerable overlap in architectural form and ethos between places of care, custody and even correction as society became more institutionalised. The modern hospice returns the care of the terminally ill to small-scale, more domestic settings and has many lessons for those providing palliative care in hospitals and residential homes for the elderly.
