ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
Paving the way for future rehabilitation services
The award-winning redevelopment of an existing but long unused NHS site in Wesham, on the Fylde Coast, has created a modern new rehabilitation service for Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust. The model focuses on empowering the service-user to gain or recover their confidence and skills. Architect, design, and masterplanning practice, FWP, was appointed to deliver the £9.4 m centre. Daniel Thompson, Partner and Healthcare lead, and James Halsall, Associate, discuss their approach to 21st century mental health design, and the FWP team’s work.
The existing hospital building in Wesham, a small town sitting inland some eight miles from Blackpool’s famous Golden Mile, had stood empty and derelict for more than eight years when the decision was made to bring it back to life. The aim was to refurbish the NHS building to create a home for a new community-facing rehabilitation service. The repurposed Wesham Rehabilitation Centre building – which earlier this year received the Design in Mental Health 2022 award for ‘Project of the Year – Refurbishment’ – includes a modern, timber-clad extension to the front that has created a welcoming and engaging entrance. The whole facility has been designed
to help bridge the gap between acute treatment and re-integrating people back into the community. The service it hosts offers a new mental health pathway that sits between acute care and community living. The Trust hopes that the Wesham centre will pave the way for future mental health rehabilitation services across the region. The service it offers is having a positive impact on existing service-users, and will benefit new service-users who need a different kind of support.
The modern, timber-clad extension to the front has created a welcoming and engaging entrance.
Helping service-users manager their own care To that end, from day one the design approach looked to help people with long-term mental health conditions manage their own care and give them back the independence and lifestyle they deserve. The technology, arrangement of the building, décor, expansive landscaped
gardens, and kitchen projects, all focused on the service-user experience to ensure that their rehabilitation can take place within a relaxing and positive environment. The result is a showcase of how far mental health design has progressed in recent years. The project team worked extremely hard in partnership with LSCFT to create a unit that is both warm and welcoming, and has a distinct non-clinical feel throughout.
The central lounge area doors lead directly into the gardens, making for easy access all year round. 30
A new approach to mental health design At the very beginning of the project, the FWP design team was given several requirements to be incorporated into the new facility, to help the Trust deliver this new approach to rehabilitation. The Wesham Rehabilitation Centre has been created with 28 individual en-suite bedrooms for people who require support to regain skills and confidence with everyday tasks such as cooking, cleaning, and looking after their own health and wellbeing. As they step down from acute care, the aim is to give the service-users the support needed to gain confidence. Other requirements from the client included delivering a ground floor facility with
NOVEMBER 2022 | THE NETWORK
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