Building design


Corners of walls are curved where possible – to make them appear ‘softer’, and to encourage flow.


orientation, whether this is through the use of colour or material. Different ceiling levels also subtly change the feel of the space. For a service-user that has difficulty engaging with outside space, a well-positioned window seat may be enough. Orientation – Each flat is orientated the same way – north-east, thereby avoiding fluctuation in light and temperature. This offers a secluded outlook, and allows the key spaces to face away from the main routes through the hospital estate, increasing privacy. Natural light – High-level windows maximise daylight, while minimising glare. They add a sense of lightness and space within the building. Artwork on windows provides engaging stimulation, while also protecting privacy. A visitor to Mitford commented: “The individual needs of the patient have clearly been at the centre of the design thinking.”


SUSTAINABILITY CONSIDERATIONS The service accepts referrals on a national basis for individuals aged 18 years and over with a confirmed diagnosis of an Autism Spectrum Disorder, and whose presentation significantly challenges mainstream mental health or learning disability services. The service also provides diversion for individuals who have been inappropriately placed within secure services. The service’s clinical model is based on a time-limited model incorporating detailed pre-and post-admission assessment, evaluation, and treatment of needs, specification of community provision, and detailed discharge planning. The timescales are constructed to ensure that momentum to return individuals to their home community is not lost, and that lengthy hospital stays are avoided. The service uses a sustainable commercial model to ensure that the capital costs of the building are recuperated over an eight-year period, resulting in long-term viability and stability of the service. This is especially important when each inpatient could have a two-year care pathway.


The building is of BREEAM Excellent


standard. Its passive ventilation strategy and use of air source heat pumps and photovoltaic renewable energy technologies have reduced its energy demands, while frame and cladding materials were locally sourced and selected for recycling potential. The building is designed


Artwork on windows provides engaging stimulation, while also protecting privacy.


around a future weather profile to enable the facility to function similarly in 30 years as to how it does now.


COLLABORATION’S POSITIVE OUTCOME Reflecting on the project, the Trust’s Capital Projects manager, John Carson, said: “There were very little design research or exemplar purpose-built facilities for this type of service, and as individual patients respond differently to the sensory aspects of their environment, this presented a considerable design challenge. However, we believe the collaborative approach of an integrated and committed project team, particularly in building upon clinical expertise, has created an innovative and world-leading facility.” The result is an innovative facility, already demonstrating the powerful impact that the environment has in helping individuals recover. The new environment has improved behaviours to the extent that many patients now have greater freedom and abilities than they ever had before. The opportunities for all have been transformed by this building. As a ward manager told me: ‘Happiness is... getting everything you asked for. I never thought it would be so good. The building has been tested and it stood up to it all’.


Paul Yeomans


Paul Yeomans, a director at Medical Architecture, is a highly skilled and experienced healthcare designer with over 10 years’ specialised experience in mental healthcare. He has substantial knowledge of healthcare in areas including strategy,


planning, design, and construction, and a proven track record of delivering a number of new-build and refurbishment projects in both the acute and mental health sectors. He said: “We get huge satisfaction in working with service-users and staff through the years of engagement, design development, sleepless nights, and inevitable compromise. The Mitford Autism Unit illustrates how worthwhile this effort is. Here, good design has added immense value to the NHS.”


n THE NETWORK JANUARY 2018 11


Medical Architecture’s design saw a range of internal and external shared areas provided, offering opportunity for sensory, therapy, and recreational activity.


©Medical Architecture


©Medical Architecture


©Medical Architecture


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