ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
Workshops are under way as part of the co-production process for the new inpatient unit.
is focused on the finishes and colours of the interior design, which will then be complemented by furniture selection and wayfinding workstreams. Biophilic design has been woven into the overall theme of ‘The Natural World’. This can see seen in the colour palette, the use of timber finishes, and even in the building form itself. To select the furniture, a major
roadshow event was organised, with several mental health suppliers invited to showcase their furniture. Set in a large sports hall, staff, Estates personnel, Experts by Experience, and other stakeholders, were invited to test products on offer and vote on the ideal furniture. This gives the building’s users real ownership of their key touchpoints within the building on a large scale. The natural world theme has been informing the wayfinding, and is currently inspiring the workshops which are currently underway.
Landscape and nature The psychological benefits of being immersed in nature are well known, and are widely adopted across new mental health hospitals. Where Combe Valley advances the provision further is that it provides a hierarchy of natural environments that align with the risk assessments, providing access to nature at all stages of recovery (see Figure 1). The X-wing shaped wards will enable
the natural benefits of the greenfield site to be utilised to their full potential. Patients
Robin Graham
Robin Graham, BA(Hons)
M.Arch, ADPPA, ARB, RIBA, director at Gilling Dod, is ‘a leader in mental healthcare design’ who oversees many of Gilling Dod’s flagship mental health projects, including the RIS:ES project for Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. He is a strong advocate for Experts by Experience being central to mental healthcare design as part of a co-production approach. As an architect, his design approach seeks to integrate nature and sustainability in ways that enhance the patient experience. His recent projects include a variety of award-winning projects, such as the Red Kite View Children and Young People’s Mental Health Inpatient Unit in Leeds, and the Inspire CAMHS unit in Hull, as well as specialist mental healthcare projects across the country.
30
A family visit room.
Patient-assessed risk level Severe
High (freely accessed) High (supervised access)
Nature location accessible to each risk level
Seclusion/ECA gardens Ward Gardens
+ Ward Therapy Gardens
Medium (Risk-assessed off ward access) + Village Green Low (Risk-assessed off ward access) Off-Site
+ External Grounds + Combe Valley Countryside Park Figure 1: A hierarchy of natural environments aligned with risks assessments.
will have free access to large ward gardens which benefit from views out to the mature trees surrounding the site. Also on ward, a therapy garden will be used for a variety of activities, including horticulture and exercise. The central village green is surrounded
by the shared therapy rooms, which open out onto corresponding outdoor rooms designed as part of the landscape architecture. This includes a café terrace for sharing chat over coffee on a sunny day, a sheltered exercise area for outdoor yoga, and a calming labyrinth next to the spiritual room. The wider grounds are extensively landscaped with trees and meadows. These will be used for walking trails, group activities, and horticulture. Sustainability measures for Combe
Valley start with a fabric-first approach, with robust targets of 0.12 W/m2 external walls, and 0.11 W/m2k for the roof. A weak spot for mental health
k for
DIMHN Conference 2024 A cross-section of the RIS:ES team will be presenting on the project at 11.00 am on 5 June at the Design in Mental Health conference 2024, in an address titled ‘Collaboration and Co-production’ which will discuss the positive outcomes of the project’s collaborative process. The speakers will be Robin Graham, director, Gilling Dod Architects; Paula Kirkland, Programme director, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust; Richard Barton, Expert by Experience, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, and Ed Dwight, Senior Project manager, Kier Construction.
MAY 2024 | THE NETWORK
hospital thermal envelopes remains the secure windows – due to the robustness requirement for the frames, they are only able to achieve 1.8 W/m2 target of 1.5 m3/(m2
k. The airtightness .h) @50Pa, in particular,
has been a good challenge for the project team to tackle, given the significant length of building perimeter. To support the building fabric targets,
the project utilises air-source heat pumps, photovoltaic panels, mechanical ventilation heat recovery, and air-handling units to service the building – all systems that are fully electric, and therefore minimise operational carbon. Embodied carbon has been kept as low as possible too, while still needing to meet the specialist robustness and anti-ligature requirements for the building.
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