36 PROJECT REPORT: HEALTHCARE BUILDINGS
PLAN
The building is formed of two linked volumes each arranged around a courtyard which can be accessed by users, separated by a central landscaped garden
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People-focused masterplan Medical Architecture worked closely with the trust to develop plans for a new two- storey building which would form the initial phase of a new healthcare campus. Reeves explains that the architects ran a series of workshops where clinicians were able to describe a typical day. “This helped inform the brief on what could be shared and where rooms needed to be. We talked through a number of concerns, particularly around visibility and observation.” The ‘focus on people’ is manifested in several ways in the masterplan, including distributing roads and parking around the edge of the site, to keep cars away from users. The buildings are organised along a ‘boulevard,’ allowing activities to spill out and create an “activated street scene” – without adding risk. To help create a connection with the local community, the original high perimeter wall was partly demolished, thereby creating a new opening connecting the boulevard with the local streets. The new building has also been designed to integrate aesthetically with the adjoining residential development, “adopting an architectural language that will complement high quality housing,” say its designers, while providing the appropriate security and privacy required for inpatient mental health services. The facade has what the architects
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describe as a “simple” material palette of brickwork that has been specified to help the building blend with the local vernacular and retained buildings on the site, but also to be a robust solution that will age well. “We wanted to create a normalised environment,” says Reeves, helping explain the choice of a single, familiar cladding material. When addressing all the challenges of designing for mental health, he says “The very environment can appear distorted, so the design has to integrate anti-ligature and anti-vandal features that are not conspicuous, so it doesn’t shout ‘mental health.’”
The hit and miss brick relief pattern around the windows draws attention to, and enhances, their generous size, while “creating a sense of play along the elevation,” say the architects. This required careful detailing and included building mock-ups to test whether it could be easily climbed. As well as bringing a “subtle play” to the elevations, it also “unifies elements such as the varying heights of doors and windows.” The windows – ‘Safevent’ by Britplas – are some of the largest the supplier has ever installed, at 2.1 metres high. These address the ligature risks present while being able to be opened wide, behind a fine perforated steel mesh. This design allows good ventilation whilst providing security,
ADF JANUARY 2022
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