LANDSCAPE DESIGN
for biodiversity within a development. Greenery is easy to provide, but the ability to design a water feature into a scheme is more of a challenge. Often budget constraints, and concerns over the control of water-sourced infection, tend to see these features omitted from a project early in the design stages. However, the presence of water, no matter how small the feature, is proven to be beneficial to our sense of happiness. Whether it’s a small pool, bubbler, or fountain, even within the arrival space (if it can’t be within the clinical environment of the hospital), such a feature provides a focus and a welcoming sight for everyone using the building. Well-designed outdoor spaces, with
An aerial visualisation of the Dorothy Pattison Hospital New Older Adult and Dementia Care Unit.
Soft landscape and planting Integrating soft landscape and planting allows the designer to create outdoor spaces that present the full sensory experience, connecting patients and service-users with nature. Integrating the landscape with the internal spaces of a building means that the users feel fully connected and immersed with nature. Plants are the living elements that help make buildings feel ’breathable’. The choice of the material, colour,
and texture of the paving and seating area surfaces is vitally important in contributing to the calming feel of an outdoor space. The furnishing of outdoor spaces is also key, not only to comply with the clinical and functional requirements
of the specific setting, but also to be cheerful and inviting to sit on, perch, or play. The arrangement of the outdoor furniture should be carefully considered to provide places to be sociable, as well as to allow for areas to sit on one’s own, away from others, for privacy, quiet, and contemplation.
Opportunities for biodiversity Where possible, green roof spaces or sky gardens are a great way to maximise the connection with nature, and provide more functional space, particularly on a constrained site or urban setting, where a building may need to be several storeys, rather than just one or two, high. This can greatly enhance the opportunities
Recent Iteriad mental healthcare projects
North View, Manchester The new North View inpatient mental healthcare facility at North Manchester General Hospital (a project led by Principal Supply Chain Partner, IHP VINCI, for Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust (GMMHT)), replaces the existing Park House facility. It provides 150 en-suite bedrooms, spread across seven adult acute wards, an older adult ward, and a psychiatric intensive care unit, on a new elevated site on the southern edge of the hospital estate. The new building form takes clues
from biophilic design principles, so that within the secure building zone a series of private outdoor gardens and enclosed courtyard spaces fit seamlessly with the built form. The different levels allow for an integrated landscape approach, with green spaces both at lower and upper ground level, and up to roof level. The external landscape includes
a new public realm arrival space, designed to connect with the village
THE NETWORK | AUGUST 2022
green, and to work with the geometry of the public realm of the wider hospital masterplanned estate, over 24 outdoor courtyards, roof gardens, and ward garden spaces, surrounded by green planting around the boundaries. These outdoor spaces link directly with the building’s internal spaces. Iteriad has designed each outdoor space to balance the right level of sensory stimulation. These are enhanced by the planting design to create a multi- sensory experience so that service-users, staff, and visitors, can connect with nature from every part of the building. Iteriad has been working with Gilling
Dod Architects, Curtins, and Ramboll, as part of the IHP VINCI team on this project for the last two years. Recently re-named North View, the project is due to start this month (August).
Dorothy Pattison Hospital, Walsall A new Older Adult and Dementia Care unit is proposed at the Dorothy Pattison Hospital in Walsall for Black Country NHS Foundation Trust to replace the
old existing facility at nearby Bloxwich Hospital. The unit consists of a single- storey building, with two wings providing 25 en-suite bedrooms. The building is shaped around two private gardens and two enclosed courtyards, with an arrival space, car parking, and perimeter landscape treatment. One wing accommodates an older adult functional garden and courtyard, and a separate wing accommodates a dementia sensory garden and courtyard. Each of the private spaces is designed to suit the specific needs of the user, including a growing area, potting shed, footpath wander loop circuits, and seating areas set amongst sensory planting areas. Iteriad has been working with Gilling Dod Architects, Curtins, and WSP, as part of the Kier Midlands team on this project for the last two years. Enabling works started in early May. Iteriad’s other clients include the
National Trust and The Outward Bound Trust; it undertakes landscape masterplanning of several of their estates.
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access to living plants, allow a patient or service-user to feel immersed in nature, which promotes a sense of healing, recovery, and wellbeing. This can help reduce the length of time that a patient or service-user spends in hospital.
Ease of maintenance Designing for ease of, and reducing the cost of, managing and maintaining a healthcare building over the longer term is very important. This also includes the future cleaning regime for windows and guttering, which need to be accessible from the gardens, often by mobile lifting platforms, so space needs to be designed in to accommodate this type of equipment. Designing for long-term sustainability and a low carbon footprint is applicable across all aspects of a project, and needs to comply with higher BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental
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