The State Hospital, an NHS mental health care facility, provides treatment and care under conditions of special security for individuals with various mental disorders. The physical security systems are integrated with and supportive of the hospital’s clinical purpose. The redevelopment involved completely reorganising the hospital layout within the existing secure fenced area, and a phased approach to the redevelopment, which kept the hospital fully operational, presented a complex operational and design challenge to all involved.
The landscape vision for the redevelopment is to create a new distinctive and coherent layout which introduces vitality, diversity and interest to the site, with the objective of encouraging patients to utilise the grounds more frequently and in more varied ways. Buildings are located to retain views to the surrounding landscape from a lively centre at the heart of the layout. The ability for staff to move rapidly between areas of the site underpins the circulation pattern, with simple, direct connections between all key buildings. Opportunities for informal walks within the wider grounds were incorporated.