INTERVIEW
The award-winning new build: Built for better
At Healthcare Estates 2025, Hannah Lewis-Jones, business development lead for Mott MacDonald interviewed Xav Roberts, associate director at Murphy Phillips Architects, about Hellesdon Mental Health Facility, winner of the 2025 Healthcare Estates New Build Project of the Year Award. Roberts shared insight into the vision for the project, the challenges of delivering an innovative mental health facility, the role of collaboration and stakeholder engagement, and the practical lessons that can be applied across the healthcare estate sector.
Hannah Lewis Jones: So Xav, you had a good night last night, smashing it out of the park over here. Xav Roberts: We were lucky enough to pick up two awards, best practice and best projects as well, very pleased.
Fantastic. And you won New Build Project of the Year. It’s quite nice to see one of the smaller, smaller complex projects coming through. The smaller ones don’t get the kudos that the big ones get, but they do take the same amount of work. XR: Yes, they do, definitely.
Mott MacDonald’s Hannah Lewis-Jones speaking to Xav Roberts, associate director at Murphy Phillips Architects, about the Hellesdon Rivers Centre.
Tell us about Hellesdon. XR: Well, to tell you about Hellesdon, you have to start from quite early on. Around 2019, Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust were very conscious that their existing mental health facilities were deteriorating in quality. The buildings were based on traditional formats, with tired layouts, poor visibility, dark corridors, and bedrooms facing anti-ligature risks. The condition was such that it was starting to attract attention from the local CQC. The Trust wanted more than a refurbishment. Their goal was to create a genuinely excellent facility that destigmatised mental health, integrated with the wider hospital and community, and provided a high-quality, therapeutic environment. The existing mental health
The existing mental health provision was somewhat hidden away on a large hospital site with many other services. Patients were isolated, and the Trust wanted to change that by creating visible, welcoming, and connected spaces for patients, carers, and staff.
provision was somewhat hidden away on a large hospital site with many other services. Patients were isolated, and the Trust wanted to change that by creating visible, welcoming, and connected spaces for patients, carers, and staff. To achieve this, the Trust ran several design workshops to define what excellence looked like. They considered everything from food provision, bedroom quality, and ward layouts to outdoor spaces and opportunities for therapeutic physical activity. Importantly, patients, carers, and staff were actively involved in the process rather than simply providing a brief to the design team. Their input shaped the facility from the outset.
How did that evolve over time? You start with your brief, but once you’ve had your stakeholder engagement, we all know it’s a fairly slow process to actually get through that first part. XR: In this case, the process was relatively quick. The Trust ran ‘design sprints’, which were six to eight week intensive sessions for specific work streams. For example, food provision involved exploring fresh produce, communal cooking with patients and carers as part of therapy, and how that could be implemented. Once outcomes were agreed, they could translate directly into practical requirements for facilities. The same approach applied to outdoor spaces and wards. Decisions were made quickly and locked into the brief.
24 Health Estate Journal March 2026
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