Mental Healthcare ‘Hubs’/Building Design
FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES At a time of austerity for the NHS it is critical that Trusts are left with an estate which is fit for purpose, aligned with the optimal model of care, sufficiently flexible, and does not include surplus estate. However, caution must be applied. Simply providing the same facilities, with the same model of care, in a different location, may not provide the long-term benefit that the capital cost will demand. As perceptions change and demand
Sitting within about a five-minute walk from Halifax’s town centre, the site is easily accessible for patients who wish to access the new facility by bus, car, bicycle, or by walking.
‘While changing perceptions can be a slow and difficult process, the publicity around such campaigns, and the continued hard work of NHS organisations, are beginning to make an impact’
public transport. The route into the building converges on a central reception area, allowing immediate awareness of the person’s surroundings and good wayfinding. Parking space is located close to the entrance to the building, with wheelchair-accessible spaces positioned closest to the rear entrance doors. The café and public spaces are positioned with a prominent street frontage, with easy pedestrian access from Great Albion Street. Key public areas, including toilets, baby
changing facilities, and buggy storage, are close to reception, with discrete access into the toilets for patient dignity. Pragmatic positioning of staircases provides an efficient floorplan for fire escape purposes, while also providing separate vertical circulation for staff and patients. The floorplans have minimal columns, and a regular structural grid, promoting future flexibility, and in turn sustainability. Private and public space within the building is clearly defined, with public spaces on entry, and private, access- controlled spaces beyond. The internal layout is simple, to improve wayfinding for visitors.
CONSULTING AND TREATMENT ROOMS Consulting and treatment rooms have been designed to a standard size, allowing future reconfiguration of the functions without amending partitions and the internal layout. Treatment and storerooms have been positioned internally within the plan to allow rooms requiring windows and natural ventilation to occupy positions along external walls. The waiting areas and café at ground floor are located within close proximity of the central circulation zone containing the main stair and lift, to aid orientation. The external appearance was also a key
element of the design, and much discussion and thought was devoted to how the building
24 THE NETWORK April 2015
could provide an approachable, welcoming appearance. New trees and shrub planting are proposed along the southern elevation to Great Albion Street, which will improve the public realm, and provide an attractive frontage to the new building.
CONSERVATION AREA CONSIDERATIONS As the proposed site lies opposite the Halifax Town Centre conservation area, care was taken in the design and specification of materials used in the new building’s construction to respect and complement existing buildings within the Conservation Area. Surrounding buildings are constructed from a mixed palette of materials. The historic buildings are primarily stone-built, with more recent buildings integrating panels of stone and render. The proposals adopt a similar palette to remain consistent with the context. By adopting render as a primary building element, the scheme is recognisable as a community building, while fitting in with its surroundings. A primary design element is the use of a stone plinth to the ground floor elevations, finished in a split-faced architectural masonry. This helps to ‘ground’ and assimilate the building into the streetscape.
‘The scheme will provide a modern and flexible environment from which to offer a diverse range of services’
Derek Shepherd
Associate at P+HS Architects, Derek Shepherd, is a highly experienced healthcare designer, and ‘a great advocate of user interaction within the design process’. In addition to his architectural qualifications, he holds a PG diploma in Participatory Design. He has delivered in excess of £100 million of projects for acute,
primary, and mental healthcare, for NHS Trusts over a period of more than 15 years. Establishing successful and enduring relationships with clients, he has worked collaboratively on site masterplans and development control strategies, focusing on maximising the efficiency of healthcare estates, as well as providing advice on phased development, rationalising techniques, and long-term capital programmes. His experience and detailed understanding of the sector enable him to design from a service
delivery perspective, in turn resulting in buildings that deliver on the aspirations of those who commission them.
becomes greater, the community hub must also change and provide sufficient flexibility. Providing for increased numbers and evolving methods of service delivery, the ‘Halifax Hub’ is constructed to ensure lightweight partitions and room configurations can adapt to suit differing levels of therapy. Promoting the ethos of multi- use, the hub design provides for standardised room sizes and retractable wall divides to allow a range of activities to be carried out. Through a carefully managed booking system, fluctuations in group sessions or one-to-one consultations can be managed without an over-prescription in the schedule of accommodation. Promotion of innovations in care methods
has been considered. The hub provides for ‘agile working’ and ‘hot desk’ facilities for community teams. Delivering crisis intervention, early intervention, and outreach direct from within the community, the facility also provides an opportunity to provide more tailored services.
WILL IT CHANGE PERCEPTIONS? In conclusion, will the community hub change the perception of the community? Perhaps not on its own, but with the right promotion, with the commitment of those working within the hub, from the way that mental health is covered in the media to how it is educated in schools, and the response of families and friends, it will significantly improve the lives of people in Halifax with mental health problems. With a wider range of services being
provided over a wider geography, more efficient and cost-effective support services are required. The need therefore to provide more efficient and strategically located buildings is expected to result in better access to highly specialised services. For South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, working with P+HS Architects, the future opportunities are becoming a reality.
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