News


‘Homestead formation’ for new rural Omagh facility


With its height, whitewashed walls, slate-clad appearance, and rural setting, combining to lend it a homely, domestic feel, at first glance the new Rathview Mental Health Facility in Omagh is perhaps not what you would expect. “In fact,” say its architects, Todd Architects, “it would be hard to know it was a healthcare building.” Rathview, completed in April this year for the Western Health and Social Care Trust by P&K McKaigue, was carefully designed ‘to break down traditional, preconceived ideas of mental health facilities, offering a fresh, residential approach in a peaceful countryside setting’. Situated in a rural greenfield site on Omagh’s outskirts, the £2.8 m facility contains a 12-bed Discharge Unit and a six-bed Recovery Unit, and is designed to increase the range of community- based mental health service available locally. Project architect, Liam Lennon, said: “Rathview takes its name from a nearby ‘Rath’ or ringfort – an ancient Irish chieftain’s residence. Our design approach maintains a dialogue with local history, and reflects a contemporary take on the traditional Ulster ‘Clachan’ – a homestead formation in today’s terms.” Todd’s shallow one-storey plan places all


habitable rooms on external walls, facing either directly out to the surrounding countryside, or


AGM notice


Notice is hereby given that the 2018 Annual General Meeting of the Design in Mental Health Network Limited will be held on Wednesday, the 10th day of October 2018. The meeting will convene at 12 pm at Manchester Central, Manchester. Under section 324 of the Companies Act 2006, and article 19 of the Articles of Association of the Design in Mental Health Network Ltd., a member who may not be able to attend in person may appoint a proxy.


onto an internal courtyard, maximising natural light and views of a calm external environment. The medium-stay Discharge Unit focuses on rebuilding residents’ confidence and independence by providing a domestic environment, with autonomous access to their accommodation. Twelve individual one-person apartments are laid out around a central courtyard, with two activity social spaces and a training kitchen.


The Recovery Unit offers short-term care,


with the en-suite rooms designed ‘to balance privacy with essential observation and access’. Sensitively arranged around a fully enclosed courtyard, the unit includes staff accommodation and communal areas.


A ‘breakthrough’ in access control


Stanley Security has partnered with London- based security start-up, Doordeck, to launch the Stanley OneDoor


smartphone-based access control system, which can be used with existing Stanley access control products, and reportedly ‘rolled out to an entire building in under one hour, without the need for new hardware’.


The company said: “Stanley OneDoor is


a breakthrough in access control, eliminating the need for keycards and tags and all the management and associated costs. Instead, users gain access via their smartphones through the Stanley OneDoor App, ‘reading’ Stanley OneDoor tiles using


either a QR code, via the app, or an NFC chip, just like ‘Apple Pay’ and ‘Google Pay’. Highly flexible, the system is secured with bank-level encryption, and can also be used with traditional


cards and tags where required.” Stanley Security access control customers


benefit from ‘a competitively priced monthly subscription fee per door, with unlimited users’. The company said: “Costs associated with managing an access control system are largely removed. Access can be managed remotely, with no requirement to be present to issue a virtual key. All administration functions are managed online, and are comparable to existing systems.”


Sit back, relax, and ‘achieve Zen’


The new Zen seating range from Pineapple Contracts is ‘helping to build areas of calm, relaxation, and rest, in areas of challenging behaviour’.


The company said: “As well


as providing a comforting space for quiet contemplation, Zen’s reclined position and smoothly curved profile prevent the user from standing up rapidly –


6 THE NETWORK OCTOBER 2018


helping to preserve staff safety in the event of a disturbance.” Available as a duo chair (with separate footstool), or a single- piece chair, the range is also available with additional weight and reinforcement (including a fully enclosed base to prevent


concealment), ‘making it suitable for areas of increased security’.


‘Ultimate test’ for plaster skim finish


British Gypsum’s ThistlePro DuraFinish skimming plaster is helping to protect the walls from accidental damage at a new sensory room facility for a charity organisation set up to prevent isolation for families affected by autistic spectrum condition, Autism Isolation No More. Its original base – a converted unit in a shopping centre in Fareham – was too busy for children to comfortably access, so a new centre was found in a more homely, rural location. Plasterer and charity volunteer, Aaron Pearson, from Titanium Plastering (pictured), ‘knew from experience’ that ThistlePro DuraFinish would be the ideal skim finish plaster for the project. ThistlePro DuraFinish delivers a plaster skim finish said to provide ‘up to 60% tougher resistance to accidental damage than regular plasters’. Useable on plasterboard or undercoat plasters, or for re-plastering and repair work, it is reportedly ideal for high-traffic areas, or ‘those prone to scrapes and knocks’. Aaron Pearson said: “This was the ideal testing environment for the plaster’s durability, because the children are constantly running around, and throwing toys and other items against the walls. We installed two coats across all the walls and ceilings. With the first you just flatten it and leave it for 20 minutes, before applying the second. After only 90 minutes it is ready for the first trial, followed by a second after 115 minutes, and the final trial at 135 minutes. I then just had to run my trowel along it to give it that smooth finish.”


©Chris Hill Photography/Todd Architects


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