Designing better mental healthcare facilities

Work begins on £60 m Northgate Hospital redevelopment in Morpeth

Construction has begun on the £60 m redevelopment of Northgate Hospital in Morpeth, designed by Medical Architecture for NTW Solutions – Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, with the main contractor being Sir Robert McAlpine.

Designed around a ‘village campus’ concept, the new medium secure hospital at the development’s heart provides a wide variety of indoor and outdoor settings for relaxation and activity, relieving boredom, and lowering the risk of challenging behaviours and poor physical health, Medical Architecture says. It explained: “The new facility is the catalyst to allow all the Trust’s secure services to be consolidated from currently dispersed sites into a single, integrated secure centre of excellence.”

The redevelopment will provide 116 male inpatient beds, located in a mix of new and reconfigured existing buildings, with the new-build element providing inpatient accommodation for 74 male patients with forensic mental health needs – including complex personality disorders and / or learning disabilities.

The site’s eastern quarter is covered by a broad area of Trust-owned and managed mature woodland, with the steep topography ‘creating unique opportunities to exploit the visual interest of its natural setting’. With land sale areas designated for future housing along the site’s south-western and northern boundaries, the masterplan nestles the new hospital into the south-eastern portion, surrounded by trees on three sides. The campus has been designed to ensure that as many internal and external spaces as possible offer opportunities for mitigating boredom and provide a meaningful day; achieved in a range of settings – from bedrooms to living spaces, and from sheltered gardens to open courtyards, with opportunities for both ‘structured and unstructured’ activity and sports. This includes an outdoor ‘kickabout’ area, and a ‘sports barn’.

The six wards are paired together and arranged around the large, shared recreation space. At each’s centre is a landscaped courtyard, and between each pair, an activity courtyard, marked out for exercise and sporting activities. Bedrooms are arranged to face outwards, with views to the surrounding woodlands, while majority of the day activity and living space is at the centre of the ward with easy access to the courtyards. Abundant daylighting, attractive views, and a sense of spaciousness, ‘contribute to the therapeutic effectiveness of the environment’.

A ‘consistent and controlled palette of materials and architectural styles’ has been developed to integrate the building with the most recent additions to the site, and present a positive image for visitors and new arrivals. Medical Architecture added: “The use of a Birtley brick –

a robust, locally sourced material – especially at lower levels, provides a shared point of character to the nearby buildings. The deep red metal cladding that unites some areas of the façade, and highlights entrance spaces, provides a contrasting element of verticality in a strongly horizontal building.”

 

Paul Yeomans, director at Medical Architecture, said: “It's fantastic to see this important project being realised. The process has been incredibly complex, with numerous challenges for the team, but the redevelopment will deliver amazing facilities for patients and staff. We are looking forward to seeing it develop.”

 

 

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