INPATIENT CAMHS DESIGN
the potential – and constraints – of the project, we were able to overcome the engagement fatigue, manage expectations, and, ultimately, optimise the project to reflect staff priorities and user needs.
Devising an efficient design strategy
To help identify priorities, our proposals were structured around a ‘kit of parts’ approach – a catalogue of easily implementable design features, furniture, and fittings. This enabled the interventions to be expanded as appropriate, or even delivered in future locations. Many of the spaces within the new CAMHS unit are used by inpatients and outpatients aged 5-18 – i.e. spaces which had previously been located separately within the two original units (one for the under-12s, and one for 12-18 year olds) – were now to be shared by both age groups. We therefore designed these communal spaces carefully to cater to the needs of this broad range of service-users, as well as the staff that support them. This came with obvious design challenges; for example, young people suffering severe distress need privacy, but have to remain visible to staff for their own safety. We designed spaces which allow a spectrum of levels of privacy and togetherness – from open spaces for communal activity and convivial conversation, to nooks and corners that offer the opportunity for private conversation and to retreat without feeling isolated from others.
Inpatient social space
One of the most important spaces within the project was the inpatient social space, a communal area where young people aged 12-18 spend much of their time. As this room is located centrally within the unit, it also has to function as a corridor
creating the impression of a lofty space with a large ‘skylight’. Again, through timely collaboration with the main architects and service engineers, these changes to the fabric of the building could be integrated into the main design package as it was developed with minimum cost uplift.
Seating nooks have been incorporated into various spaces including the games room, offering more opportunities for families to spend quiet time together during visiting hours.
with multiple entrances, making it feel quite ‘leaky’, and potentially quite difficult to relax in. Due to its location on the ground floor of a multi-storey hospital, the room had relatively low ceilings, and very limited natural light. Although limited by the constraints of the building design, in collaboration with the wider design team we were able to swap a couple of rooms and create glazed double doors, to make the TV room more private, and create a visual connection to the main communal spaces and the courtyard garden. To ameliorate the low suspended ceilings, we designed a vaulted ceiling with LED panels,
A coastal narrative The project’s design language – including its palette of colour and pattern – was derived from conversations in the engagement workshops, during which participants of all ages had frequently identified the coast and seaside as symbols of freedom, health, and vitality. We created a coastal narrative for the unit, with subtle variations in atmosphere – from the pastel hues of seaside towns for spaces for younger children, to the deeper and more intense shades of the rugged Scottish offshore for the teenage users. This coastal theme can be seen throughout the unit, incorporating playful bespoke illustrations of seabirds and lighthouses, as well as an abstracted language of maritime signal pennants and still teal waters. Each graphic intervention reinforces the overall coastal theme, from simple maritime pennants that spell out the name of the unit in a TV room, all the way to a large lighthouse mural with a goal and targets for ball games in the central garden.
This holistic approach, designing all the 2D graphics alongside and within the 3D spaces, creates a strong design identity – a far cry from the ‘stuck on’ wall graphics which often seem added to children’s hospital walls as an afterthought. Where possible we developed the graphic approach into spatial interventions, such as the inhabitable lighthouse within the inpatient communal space. Projects Office was later appointed to design the interiors of another outpatient unit – CAMHS south Edinburgh – continuing this design language, and ensuring a continuity of environment for the children and young people who use the services at both sites.
Key learnings from the engagement process
‘Restaurant-inspired’ booth seating in the dining room reduces distraction for younger children, while offering an increased sense of privacy for older patients who may find mealtimes difficult.
THE NETWORK | JANUARY 2022
The nature of the engagement workshops enabled intimate conversations which often surprised us, and which had direct and powerful impacts on the final designs. For example, in conversation with the mother of a teenager being treated for severe anorexia, she revealed that finding a seating arrangement to enable comfortable conversation was a cause of daily discomfort; at home, she would rarely sit in her daughter’s bedroom, but in hospital this was where they usually spent time – this felt like an invasion of her daughter’s privacy. To compound matters, the possible seating arrangements – side by side on the bed, or one person on the bed and the other in a desk chair – felt awkward and unnatural. This conversation revealed the significance of convivial seating throughout the unit, and informed our design of the inpatients’ bedrooms,
25
©French + Tye
©French + Tye
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32
