ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
New multi-level facility to replace ‘dormitory’
Robin Graham, BA(Hons),
M.Arch, ADPPA, ARB, an associate director at Gilling Dod Architects, describes the practice’s design of Park House – a new inpatient mental health facility at North Manchester General Hospital that will replace one of the largest remaining dormitory-based such units in the UK. The new hospital will also be one of the first multi-level mental health units with roof gardens in the north of England.
Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH) operates the Park House mental health unit at North Manchester General Hospital. It is one of the largest remaining dormitory-based inpatient units in the UK, and features many aspects which don’t reflect current best practice or compliance. Two of the wards incorporate over 20 beds, and all have shared bathrooms. The Trust has been working tirelessly since 2017 to progress plans for its replacement. Gilling Dod Architects was appointed in late 2019 to design the new hospital, which will be located nearby on the southern end of the wider hospital site. The rest of the design team appointments followed in 2020, followed by the selection of the main contractor, IHP, in late summer 2020. The new hospital will be one of the first
multi-level mental health units with roof gardens in the north of England, and one of the first of a series of a new generation of Net Zero carbon hospitals being built nationally. It forms part of a wider national dormitory eradication programme.
The client brief A detailed briefing was drawn up by the Trust to outline to the design team what is required for the redevelopment of Park House. Number one on its design objectives was service-user experience. This was supplemented by having a safe and secure environment, and a building that promotes staff wellbeing, as well as
Iteriad has designed a welcoming public realm arrival space integrating a sinuous route to the front door that ‘aims to slow down a person’s approach to help calm people as much as possible’.
good use of natural light. Level access to garden spaces was also a priority. As the project is being developed alongside the masterplan for the wider North Manchester General Hospital site, consideration of the masterplan principles was required. Specific requirements for the building also included: l Anti-ligature provision to service-user accessible areas.
l Bariatric provision.
l Dementia-friendly environments throughout the building, not just on the older adult ward.
l Robustness, with medium-secure standards used as a starting point. l Step-free access.
Schedule of accommodation The replacement for Park House is to provide 150 en-suite bedrooms, spread across seven adult acute wards, an older adult ward, and a psychiatric intensive care unit. Provision will be as follows: l 1 Older Adult Ward: 20 beds. l 6 Adult Acute Wards: 17 beds. l 1 Adult Acute Ward: 18 beds. l 1 Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit: 10 beds.
l Total bed numbers: 150. l A Section S136 suite. l A treatment Suite (includes ECT).
The existing Park House facility is one of the largest remaining dormitory-based inpatient units in the UK, and features many aspects which do not reflect current best practice or compliance.
THE NETWORK | MAY 2022
Masterplan context and site selection As work on the initial stages of the project took place alongside the genesis of the masterplan for the wider North Manchester
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