Theme: Technology - Designing for Human Connection

As digital tools, remote care, and AI-enabled solutions increasingly shape the mental health care landscape, how we design spaces must continue to evolve. The 2026 Design in Mental Health Conference invites presentations, workshops or panel sessions that explore the role of technology in shaping and changing mental health care environments.

This year we ask: How do we build trust at the intersection of people, place, and technology? How can the built environment enable better digital care outcomes for those using and delivering care?

Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

• The move from BMS (Building Management Systems) to smart building technology
• Current projects where digital, spatial, and clinical innovation are working hand-in-hand to improve outcomes, access, and safety
• Built environment responses to digital-first mental health care: what’s already happening, and where must we go next?
• How architecture, layout, materials, and building systems are adapting to accommodate AI, voice tech, XR/VR, sensor-based and remote technologies
• The impact of AI and digital monitoring tools on privacy, autonomy, and relational care
• Crisis prevention and continuity of care using hybrid, integrated digital-physical pathways
• Design strategies for safeguarding digital security, cyber protection, and information flow
• Infrastructure and design principles for future resilience in rapidly evolving tech environments

Theme: Acute and Inpatient Environments for Compassionate Mental Health Care - Responding to Rising Demand through Design

Across England, emergency and inpatient mental health services are facing growing demand and increasing complexity. In response, the NHS is investing in a wider network of emergency mental health care including health-based places of safety, crisis cafés, and specialist units within acute hospitals to provide faster, safer, and more therapeutic alternatives to traditional emergency settings. Delivering on this ambition depends not only on new models of service but also on the environments that support this.

This year we ask: How can the built environment enable compassionate, trauma-informed, and person-centred care in high-pressure settings?

As demand increases across emergency departments, inpatient units, custodial settings, and secure schools, we must prioritise how our environments respond, for people in often their most vulnerable times. How might we bridge divides between physical and mental health, safety and dignity, clinical urgency and psychological recovery.

Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

• Designing built environments for emergency mental health presentations in general hospitals and A&E’s departments that improve patient experience and clinical outcomes
• Spatial planning and design strategies to support psychiatric liaison, RAID and co-located services within acute settings
• Built environment adaptations that facilitate effective acute medical care for people with mental health needs
• Creating trauma-informed and neurodiverse-friendly environments through thoughtful spatial design and material choices
• Design and environmental considerations in therapeutic spaces for custodial settings, courts, and secure schools
• Contributions of the built environment to fulfilling NHS Culture of Care programme standards, including sensory and safety adaptations
• Embedding sensory, biophilic, and empowering design elements within acute and secure care environments to promote wellbeing and recovery
• Innovations in products, fixtures, and spatial layouts that enhance relational safety, dignity, autonomy, and staff workflow

Theme: Designing for Mental Health in the Community

With the growing delivery of mental health care in the community, supporting the design of community-based environments alongside digital and social infrastructure is essential. How are we improving accessibility, supporting safety, while fostering social connection and wellbeing?

This year we ask: What kinds of community environments support the delivery of better integrated mental health care for people needing care and for those delivering it? Where can we learn from place-based approaches to mental health care design?

Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

• How, do different community-based environments support clinical care, social interventions, prevention, and recovery. Examples might include neighbourhood health centres, high street spaces, town centres, and other blended-use environments which are helping improve wellbeing, mental health and social connections
• Operational considerations for estates teams in community-based environments
• The design needs of geographically varied settings—urban, rural, coastal, and underserved regions—and how these influence access, inclusion, and infrastructure.
• The role of public and social infrastructure—such as parks, housing, and transport—in improving population wellbeing, reducing stigma, and promoting mental health equity.
• Housing-first models and design implications for mental health care and support.
• Repurposing and renovating community buildings to support local care delivery. What are the design, operational, and coordination challenges in adapting diverse types of spaces?

We encourage workshops, presentations panels and in particular practical examples of how teams are addressing these opportunities and challenges now.

Theme: Workforce Safety, Culture, and Wellbeing

Health and safety in mental health settings is fundamental both to those that receive care as well for the workforce who deliver care. The built environment can play a critical role in creating spaces that are safe, supportive, and conducive to therapeutic outcomes for everyone within them.

Across the country, mental health estates continue to face significant challenges. Recent investigations by the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) highlight persistent environmental risks.

This year we ask: With the forthcoming Mental Health Bill bringing changes, how is health and safety design evolving to meet new clinical, legal, and operational demands.

Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

• Balancing ligature-resistance and safety with calm, dignified, and domestic environments
• Integrating reliable mechanical, electrical, and specialist safety systems that reduce risk while supporting therapeutic aims
• Materials and finishes that comply with infection control and fire safety without sacrificing comfort or sensory needs
• How security surveillance, and privacy solutions are balanced against autonomy and relational safety
• Example of future estates and infrastructure planning with the new legislative requirements, enabling safe management of higher acuity and complex needs
• Staff mental health, wellbeing and safety supported through design

We encourage workshops, and presentations and practical examples of how teams are addressing now and preparing for the future.

Theme: Inclusion & Accessibility

The buildings and environments around us profoundly shape how we live, feel, and connect with others. Design decisions influence our sense of safety, belonging, and overall wellbeing, but their impact is not experienced equally. Inequalities remain deeply embedded, with people who have less social, cultural, or economic power disproportionately more likely to live, learn, and recover in environments that are poorly maintained, hard to navigate, and disconnected from comfort, dignity, and nature.

Topics of Interest Include (but are not limited to):

• Designing for neurodiversity: environments that support regulation, autonomy, and sensory needs across healthcare, schools, and supported housing
• Dementia-friendly environments: caring for cognitive and physical abilities over time.
• Inclusive design in schools and early years spaces: How learning and caring environments can support mental wellbeing from a young age
• Supported housing and community spaces: approaches which design for mental health considerations alongside physical ones, accessible homes that adapt to changing needs.
• Enabling shared spaces for diverse users, and carers: co-occupancy designs that balance different, needs in one environment

We welcome examples of projects already underway, lessons learnt and bold thinking about where next.

Theme: Sustainability by Design

Amid environmental urgency, financial pressure, and rising demand, sustainable mental health care design is critical for now and the future.

This year we ask: How can we ensure spaces can endure, adapt, and support care over time?

• Designing for long-term value: Reducing operating costs and future-proofing estates through smarter material and system choices
• Net-zero and low-carbon innovation: Examples of energy-efficient, circular, or nature-enhancing design in mental health settings
• Adaptation and retrofit: Transforming older or underused spaces into therapeutic, efficient environments
• Operational sustainability: Layouts and design details that reduce waste, extend lifecycle performance
• Creative responses to tight budgets: through partnerships, procurement, or cost-benefit thinking
• Balancing sustainability goals with clinical need: Navigating carbon targets, compliance requirements, and patient care priorities

We welcome examples of projects already underway, lessons learnt and bold thinking about where next.

Theme: Design & Digital Solutions

With a focus on safety, cost-effectiveness, and digital innovation, our Design & Digital Solutions Theatre showcases the latest technologies, products, and solutions making a real difference in mental health environments.

For this Theatre, we’re seeking sessions that clearly demonstrate:

• How the solution works – including key features and functionality

• Real-world applications and use cases – specifically in mental health settings

• Measurable benefits – such as cost savings, operational efficiency, or improved safety

• Impact on service users and staff – enhancing wellbeing, experience, and outcomes

• Integration with existing systems – practical considerations for adoption

• Lessons learned – challenges, successes, and recommendations

Sessions should be informative and insight-driven, focusing on value rather than direct sales promotion.