DESIGN & ARCHITECTURE
Above: Seat pods built into the walls along circulation routes offer staff and service-users the opportunity for moments of rest, quiet, and privacy.
Above right: Inside, an open-plan design approach capitalises on the light, airy environment created by the building’s terraced structure, with ‘highly adaptable spaces that encourage collaboration and a strong sense of wellbeing’.
Right: Young people surveyed valued a building incorporating ‘subtle, but bright and comfortable’, colours throughout.
specific groups – including inpatients, outpatients, young people with autism spectrum disorder, and their parents and carers – how the design could best suit the needs of the Trust’s diverse service-users. These workshops separately examined the ‘lived experiences’ and ‘emotional mapping’ of young people, gathering data on their feelings about clinical environments, and the kinds of spaces that have a positive effect on their mental health and wellbeing.
Choices between spaces IBI’s research found that service-users with autism spectrum disorders placed a high value on choices between spaces, and especially light, open, and quiet areas. All of the young people surveyed valued a building that was easy to navigate without supervision, as well as outdoor spaces with plentiful greenery and space to play games. They also showed a strong preference for natural and – where artificial – dimmable light, informal design in their educational and communal spaces, subtle, but bright and comfortable, colours throughout the building, and spaces catering to the needs and interests of different age groups.
Our engagement also included meetings with key staff groups, including researchers at KCL, clinicians at the Trust, and Trustees of the Maudsley Charity. Consultations with clinical and research staff continued throughout RIBA stages 2 (January to June 2019) and 3 (October 2019 to April 2020) of the design development process, with hand-picked groups of staff representing every level of the project’s partner organisations participating in multiple meetings before the design was finalised for planning permission. Finally, representatives of the local community were consulted through
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three open days and evenings held at Trust venues, giving members of the public the opportunity to ask questions about the project and present their views.
Design concept This engagement informed the project’s core design principles, including the provision of large, open, interior and exterior spaces, a ‘green spine’ offering patients and visitors easy access to therapeutic outdoor terraces at multiple levels of the building, an emphasis on natural light, and operational flexibility. In essence, the design strategy is to create a non-institutional home away from home, where staff, visitors, and above all service- users, feel safe, relaxed, and inspired. Working with design team partners,
Growth Industry (landscape architecture), Troup Bywaters+Anders (MEP), and WSP (structures), IBI Group applied these principles through several key features.
Tiered design Extensive engagement and testing identified an innovative tiered design as the optimal solution to height and scale needs, ensuring access to landscaped external spaces throughout. Vertical separation between floors ensures that the spatial, clinical, privacy, and security needs of the Centre are served equally. This allows inpatient spaces – including leisure- based day spaces, therapy areas, and learning environments – to be specialised, and retain a sense of privacy, while remaining connected to the building’s hub and outdoor areas. The building’s terraced design is especially important for maximising internal natural light, while because its footprint steps back from the adjacent Aubrey Lewis House, it opens up the Centre’s accommodation to natural light
while maintaining patient privacy. On the other side of the building, angular rotation of the Centre’s east block also allows natural light into the Medical Research Council’s Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre.
Open-plan spaces Inside, an open-plan design approach capitalises on the light, airy environment created by the building’s terraced structure, with highly adaptable spaces that encourage collaboration and a strong sense of wellbeing. This is apparent from the entrance atrium, which functions as a casual living space, with a play zone for young children, art display, and built-in seating pods. The height of the reception desk is kept at a minimum to prevent a physical and metaphorical barrier developing between staff and service- users. This atrium opens onto a central staircase linking to outpatient testing and treatment facilities. On the building’s third level, where
the Centre’s fully accessible spaces meet inpatient space, a suite of open-plan offices allows researchers and clinicians from the Trust and King’s College London to engage in collaboration and dialogue. Inpatient spaces on the upper floors are carefully tailored to their dedicated functions, with spaces for study, play, family time, and treatment, connected through easily navigable and brightly lit hallways. The interior design of these spaces uses sensory cues to establish their mood and purpose, while always privileging calm and comfort.
Outdoor terraces At each level of the building, these interior spaces open out onto terraces and roof gardens that give staff and service-users the opportunity to enjoy
NOVEMBER 2022 | THE NETWORK
Images courtesy of IBI Group
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