FORENSIC MENTAL HEALTHCARE
The project team
l Client: Health Service Executive. l Architects: Scott Tallon Walker Architects. l Healthcare architects: Medical Architecture. l Landscape architects: Mitchell & Associates. l Conservation architects: Carrig Conservation International. l Contractor: JJ Rhatigan. l Quantity surveyor: AECOM. l Structural Engineers: Punch Consulting Engineers. l M&E Engineers: J.V. Tierney & Co. Consulting Engineers. l Planning consultant: Doyle Kent Planning Partnership / RPS Group.
l Ecologist: Faith Wilson. l PSDP: Turner & Townsend. l Assigned certifier: AECOM. l Acoustic consultant: AWN Consulting.
the safety of more vulnerable groups. These challenges were addressed by clearly defining a set of ‘design rules’, and then strongly enforcing clear zoning while developing the brief and design, to clearly define secure and non-secure areas. Wards are planned so that the
admission of new patients, seclusion, and ‘back-of-house’ functions can operate discretely, away from day-to-day activity. This minimises alarm, disruption, and the reliance on staffing to prevent other patients within the ward from potentially absconding, which may be the case if all patient access was reliant on a single point of entry. Tall, wide, daylit spaces are created in busy areas to reduce congestion and the potential ‘pressure cooker’ effect around the staff base, which it was observed patients tended to gravitate towards. The interior layout, based on loops of circulation enclosing a courtyard, minimises ambiguities, surprises, or hidden spaces in circulation, which in turn maximises opportunities for natural and passive surveillance by staff in a subtle manner, without infringing on privacy. Coloured glazed entrances to the ward buildings, which are illuminated at night, enable clear wayfinding.
Out-of-reach acoustic panels Interior spaces feature measures to reduce noise and resulting stress through discreet integration of out-of-reach acoustic panels. Fittings have also been carefully selected to achieve robustness and safety from potential self-harm, while not appearing overtly so. A rigorous testing regime informed the selection of components and materials. The entire facility is designed in accordance with the UK Department of Health’s High secure building design guide and Category B Prison standards. An equivalent facility is that of Broadmoor Hospital in Berkshire. To meet this requirement, the pavilion buildings are surrounded by a 5.2 m high secure perimeter fencing or equivalent building/ boundary structures. Against the backdrop of the surrounding woodland, the security fencing blends inconspicuously,
22 Within the wards,
generous glazing offers views into a series of
internal courtyards and perimeter gardens.
A view of the ‘village green’. FEBRUARY 2023 | THE NETWORK
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