From 2012 to 2022 Teva Hesse and Sam Whatman while employed at appointed architect C F Møller Architects (UK) Ltd were the design team leaders and architects for the Estates Modernisation Programme for the South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust. Over a decade of close collaboration with the Trust, they led the design and masterplanning for the wholesale transformation of its 33-hectare (former asylum) estate, parts of which date back to the 1840’s.
Focus has been on the de-stigmatization and integration of mental healthcare within a community. New outpatient and training facilities as well as secure and acute inpatient wards have been delivered in the midst of a new development which will grow to include 900 new homes, a new 13-hectare public park, new transport links and site-wide sustainable energy infrastructure. The new hospital buildings will also provide retail outlets, parking and community spaces for the emerging neighbourhood.
The buildings have been co-designed and co-produced through hundreds of workshops, open days and design meetings with stakeholders. The hospital is a leading exemplar of a mental health facility which is comforting and uplifting: a place of healing for patients, a place of pride for staff, and a place of reassurance for relatives, friends and carers.
Innovation in Mental Health Design
The design of the new Springfield University Hospital has prioritised a broad set of therapeutic needs. These include less-institutional environments with ample daylight, natural ventilation, quiet spaces, flexible group rooms, as well as free access to gardens. Activity spaces comprise beverage bays, window seats, remote working desks, computer stations, games tables, therapy rooms, kitchens, therapy gardens, and exercise areas which can be accessed and used by service users on their own initiative while under indirect staff supervision. The hospital facilitates activities that make a patient’s day worthwhile: a good night’s sleep, learning new skills, private contemplation, collective gathering, reading, exercising, listening to music, resting in a planted garden, etc.
The buildings have been co-designed and co-produced through hundreds of workshops, open days and design meetings with stakeholders. The hospital is a leading exemplar of a mental health facility which is comforting and uplifting: a place of healing for patients, a place of pride for staff, and a place of reassurance for relatives, friends and carers.