ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
Belgian CAMHS facility’s ‘playful, positive’ design
Frederique Lievens, lead architect on the project at Belgian architectural and engineering practice, VK architects+engineers, discusses the design of an impressive new mental health facility for children and young people in the Belgian city of Kortrijk, West Flanders. Designed to integrate well into its urban and green surroundings, the architects say ‘aesthetics and cosiness take the lead’.
The operator of the mental health hospital, Heilige Familie, part of Belgian non-profit provider of mental health and elderly care, Groep Zorg H.Familie, says it is aiming to raise awareness of mental health with its new CAMHS facility in Kortrijk. VK architects+engineers, part of Sweco, took up the challenge of breaking the taboo surrounding mental health and creating a high-quality physical space for children’s and young people’s mental healthcare in the city. De Korbeel (the dictionary definition in English of the word Korbeel is ‘a short sloping support beam or ‘corbel’) was founded in Kortrijk in 1974 by the Congregation of the Holy Family Sisters, and since 2015 has been part of Groep Zorg H. Familie. The facility was recognised as the first child and adolescent mental health hospital in Flanders, and has been an established part of the mental health sector there ever since. Its establishment in 1974 was was followed in 2007 by the opening in Kortrijk of De Patio, the only forensic youth psychiatric unit in West Flanders. Olivier Peene, general director of PZ H. Familie, explained: “Due to the expansion of the treatment options over the years, a larger infrastructure was the only option. Construction work for the new mental health hospital in Kortijk began in June 2020, following the demolition of the former facility, and the new building was commissioned at the end of September 2022. This was not only a happy moment for the children and young people, but also for the staff.” The first young service-users were admitted last October.
A centrally located campus Together with the adjoining Mental Health Hospital H. Familie, founded in 1950, the new building forms a centrally located campus with a specialised offer for children, adolescents, and adults with mental illness. In addition to inpatient treatment and care, children and adolescents can also receive day therapy at De Korbeel. This broad and specialised treatment approach means that any child or young person with mental ill health (e.g., autism, depression, psychosis, etc.)
THE NETWORK | AUGUST 2023
Top: The white nuanced brick references – in a contemporary way – the original white townhouses in the street and the city. Middle top: The new building ‘proudly asserts its presence in the streetscape’. Above: VK architects+engineers said: “The building is obviously designed first and foremost for the benefit of the users, but equally for the benefit of the surroundings.” Right: Each living group is equipped with its own living space, bedrooms, bathroom, and support functions, and also has its own patio garden (see photo), specifically designed to suit the age group.
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All photos used courtesy of Klaas Verdru
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