SERVICE-USER ACCOMMODATION Louis Sullivan
Louis Sullivan, Principal architect, Darwin Group, is an award-winning RIBA Chartered Architect, lecturer, and educator. With more than a decade of experience in international practice, he has led the design and delivered mixed-use developments around the world, ranging from sensitive Grade-II-listed restorations, to city-centre skyscrapers and urban district masterplanning. He is currently the Principal architect at Darwin Group, specialising in designing and delivering healthcare solutions for the NHS, and striving to further what best-in-practice looks like.
door comes with an electronic lockset specifically designed to allow access within five seconds in an emergency, even with tampering or active pressure. Specially designed vision panels in the
door give near-silent opening and closing to protect privacy and dignity, while still allowing for inobtrusive safety checks to be carried out by staff. An integral part of the bedroom was
the Safehinge Primera Lifeline Key, which serves as a single key for all access points – including safes, storage, doors, vision panels, and windows. It means that staff don’t have to carry around a large bunch of keys, streamlining access management, and improving efficiency, safety, and security, and helping to improve mental health hospital procedures. The keyway is automatically closed off when the Lifeline Key is removed from the lock – preventing
the risk of the lock being tampered with, something seen with square drive keyways by simply using two plastic pieces of cutlery.
As a collaborative group, we pushed the boundaries to show what’s possible. We believe we’ve created the blueprint for what the mental health bedroom of the future could look like. ‘Bedroom Evolved’ attracted large
crowds at the Coventry event; everyone wanted to see what it was like inside. The fact that people could physically touch it and interact with it in the live display setting meant they didn’t have to imagine anything – people understood the space we created, and the reasons behind the decisions we’d taken to make sure it was a patient-centred healing space, and not just a room that meets minimum standards. Early feedback has been highly
beneficial; both praising aspects of the design such as its robustness, how quiet and serene it was inside the room, the sense of light and spaciousness we achieved, and how well-engineered the build was, while also constructively raising issues regarding the bedroom’s suitability for certain patient groups – admitting that further design development could be implemented to advance a kit-of-parts approach tailored to patient needs.
A physical forum for further suggestions The project is a testament to the transformative power of modular construction in healthcare architecture. By prioritising patient safety, dignity, and well-being, this collaborative effort has pushed the boundaries of what is possible in mental health bedroom design. It is a physical forum for further suggestions around building better healthcare. It offers a glimpse of the future of modular mental health construction, where innovation and collaboration will continue to redefine the standards for patient care and recovery. As we move forward, the lessons learned from this ground-breaking project will undoubtedly shape the future of mental health spaces, ensuring that service-users receive the high-quality care they deserve in a calming and therapeutic environment. We’re already looking to the next iteration.
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THE NETWORK | NOVEMBER 2023
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