Newly-opened mental health unit up for Building Better Healthcare prize
The new Bluestone mental health unit at Craigavon Area Hospital just outside Portadown in Craigavon, Northern Ireland, has just won a prestigious Building Better Healthcare (BBH) award, coming first in the Best Mental Health Design category.
The design, by Hall Black Douglas Architects in Belfast and David Morley Architects in London, was one of five shortlisted in this category, and the BBH awards attracted a total of over 140 nominations. International multi-disciplinary consultancy Buro Happold provided structural, civil, building services and planning supervision for the project.
The unit, which opened in May, will enable the Southern Trust to deliver leading edge mental health services, and ensure best practice in terms of quality of care, patient safety and staff welfare. It will complement the existing community-based home treatment and crisis response service, and also has additional space for daily activities and therapy. The day hospital, which was also completed as part of the project, is due to open at the unit soon.
“People with mental health problems in the Southern Trust area will benefit from this modern, spacious and attractive building which replaces the existing psychiatric unit,” said Southern Health and Social Care Trust Chief Executive Colm Donaghy. “I’m delighted that the Unit has been recognised with a national design award. It’s a tremendous achievement and I’d like to congratulate everyone involved.”
A strong integration between the buildings and landscape exploits therapeutic potential
Design-wise, the concept was to create a strong integration between the buildings and landscape, to exploit their combined therapeutic potential.
“The building creates a hierarchy of spaces that gently moves from public to secure,” explained David Preece of David Morley Architects. “It is seamlessly integrated with the landscape to create a series of events to enrich the patients’ experience.”
Specific elements planned in by international multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy Buro Happold, working closely with the architects, assisted in realising this vision.
“There are high glazed panels to connect the interior and exterior spaces, providing views onto landscaped courtyards which are also home to appealing installations by local artists,” said Neil Dely, Buro Happold’s structural engineer leading the project. “The public-facing areas are towards the front of the building, becoming more private towards the back, and the building form provides both orientation and security for visitors, residents and staff.”
As a mental health unit, it is vital to create a non-threatening environment, so the entire building is single storey, on an inviting domestic scale. Materials were chosen for their natural, soft qualities, and strong colours create a lively, non-clinical environment while helping to identify circulation routes.
“The staff areas avoid protruding into the flow of the corridors, making them less like observation points despite the necessary glazing,” said Dely. “They provide long views down both sides of the curved corridors, with sight lines to other areas.”
A flexible design allows for a fluctuation between male and female patients, from mixed to single sex, and for wards to run independently from others if required. The treatment rooms in the main hospital can be used for various treatments, or change use altogether into a day room or further bedrooms.
Buro Happold designed highly sustainable building services for the Unit
Sustainability was also central to the design. “The unit is primarily naturally ventilated, including automatic-opening high-level windows in the main ward corridors. Water and power conservation measures such as rainwater recycling, infra-red water controls, lighting occupancy detection and daylight-linking controls have been provided to minimise resource wastage and lower the environmental impact of the unit,” said Barry Crozier, Buro Happold’s lead building services engineer on the Unit.
The site for the unit also sloped significantly. This meant that to achieve a building on one level extensive ground works were required, which were carried out as economically and sustainably as possible. “To minimise the amount of material both removed and imported, a lime stabilisation ground improvement technique was used,” explained Crozier. “This allowed reuse of the material won from one part of the site to create the fill needed in others.”
Additionally, bike use is encouraged, with extensive bicycle parking, and the unit is served by a bus route, reducing the need for travel by car. The scheme has achieved a NEAT (NHS Environmental Assessment Tool) ‘Excellent’ rating.
Paying tribute to the design team and the staff of the Bluestone Unit, the Health Minister for Northern Ireland, Michael McGimpsey said:
“The Bluestone Unit is a model of excellence providing high quality treatment and care to people with mental health problems. To win this award is a wonderful achievement and I congratulate all those involved."
Stephen Douglas of Hall Black Douglas Architects added: “It is rewarding to see that a Unit designed from first principles for Craigavon is now leading the design for new mental health facilities throughout the UK and Ireland.”
The Unit will hold a formal opening ceremony on 17th December.
Project team:
Client: Craigavon and Banbridge Community HSS Trust (now part of the Southern Health and Social Care Trust)
Project Manager: Health Estates Agency
Architect: David Morley Architects and Hall Black Douglas Architects
Landscape architect: Livingston Eyre Associates
Buro Happold services: Structural, civil, building services and planning supervision
QS: WH Stephens
Main contractor: Heron Brothers Ltd
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