2 June 2026 Seminars

Children and young people's mental health continues to be of significant concern for national and local stakeholders. Delivering accessible quality care will require changes to the commissioning and delivery of services building on significant transformation and innovation taking place locally. The session will provide an overview of the national strategy and policy for children and young people's mental health and the subsequent implications for the commissioning and delivery of services.

Learning points:

• Understanding of the prevalence and needs of CYP with mental health needs and challenges to current service delivery.
• Overview of the national strategy for children's mental health
• Understanding of some of the current challenges with commissioning and delivery and implications for design and technology.

This presentation will explore the evolving role of window design for mental health environments, drawing on original research and over two decades of sector experience. It highlights the complex interplay between safety, therapeutic outcomes, regulatory compliance, and sustainability - all of which are critical to creating environments that support recovery and protect vulnerable service users.

The session is grounded in stakeholder-driven research, taking insights from a national survey and qualitative interviews with estates professionals, architects, capital project managers, and clinicians. These stakeholders shared real-world challenges and priorities, including ligature prevention, robustness, privacy, and the need for natural light and ventilation. Their input shaped the direction of our research, helping ensure that the recommendations and insights presented reflect the real-world challenges faced in mental health environments.

Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of:
• The regulatory landscape (HTMs, HBNs, NHS Net Zero Building Standard).
• Safety-first design principles and the risks of ligature, contraband, and escape.
• The therapeutic value of daylight, ventilation, and patient control.
• The limitations of current testing protocols and the need for standardisation.
• Future developments in sustainability, lifecycle performance, and user-specific tailoring.

A key safety insight will focus on the overlooked risk posed by ceramics and glass. The presentation will explain how ceramic objects, such as cups and plates, can shatter toughened glass with minimal force due to their unique fracture mechanics. This has serious implications for secure environments and highlights the need for alternative tableware in high-risk areas - a critical consideration for estates and clinical teams alike.

The presentation also introduces Britplas’ contribution to the BRE’s “Informed Choices” testing guidance, developed in collaboration with the Design in Mental Health Network. This initiative aims to bring consistency and transparency to product testing in secure environments.
Designed for professionals responsible for shaping mental health spaces, this session offers practical guidance, strategic foresight, and an invitation to download the full whitepaper for further insights.

Completed in 2020, the Blossom Court inpatient building at St Ann’s Hospital in London represents a new approach to design for mental health within a constrained site. The unique two-storey arrangement sees four wards stacked around two terraced courtyards, creating a positive focal point for patients, and an abundance of natural light. A calming interior with views to nature enhances the therapeutic environment, promoting patient wellbeing and recovery, and improving the working lives of NHS staff.

The courtyard layout provides private and discretely secure space for patients without the need for fences or walls around the building’s perimeter. In doing so, demanding functional requirements are incorporated inconspicuously to create a normalised environment. With a simple palette of good quality brickwork, the building is designed to integrate with the surrounding community, to foster pride and de-stigmatise the mental health services being provided.

Initial feedback following completion was that seclusion and rapid tranquilisation of patients had significantly reduced, while physical restraint almost entirely stopped, allowing better focus on the recovery of patients compared to previous accommodation. This presentation will look at a more comprehensive body of evidence gathered during the building’s first five years of operation, from its general arrangement to details and selection of materials, and explore lessons that can be learnt to inform future developments of its kind.

Disabled Facilities Grant funding has traditionally focused on physical adaptations, yet for people with learning disabilities, home environments that do not match individual needs can cause distress that manifests as behaviours of concern and impacts on mental health and wellbeing. Our design guide was developed through the Foundations Community of Practice for those with an interest in the home environment's role in behaviours of concern, supported by a student apprentice occupational therapist.

Working with occupational therapists at the frontline in social care and housing, we developed practical guidance for Disabled Facilities Grant-funded home adaptations that address mental health needs alongside physical requirements. Our approach recognises that behaviours of concern often communicate unmet environmental needs. Professionals report that thoughtful adaptations can reduce the need for crisis interventions, support independent living, and create more supportive home environments.

Our approach reframes behaviours of concern as meaningful communication about environmental mismatches. Instead of restricting individuals, we design out triggers through person-centred adaptations - creating sensory-friendly spaces, supporting self-regulation needs, and building in safe exploration opportunities. This represents a shift from changing the person to changing the environment, respecting individual differences whilst promoting dignity and autonomy.

The guide demonstrates how Disabled Facilities Grant funding can extend beyond traditional physical adaptations to address mental health through environmental design, including reduced stress and social isolation, improved sleep quality, enhanced safety, and decreased reliance on costly care arrangements.

This presentation will outline how we developed our design guide and share key guidance principles, including person-centred adaptations, creating predictable environments, and supporting individual expression through design. We will demonstrate practical adaptations for sensory needs, self-regulation, and safe movement, alongside ethical considerations that prioritise dignity and choice.

This session explores how one NHS Trust reimagined crisis mental health care through rapid innovation and environmental redesign. Born out of urgent necessity following bed closures, the team transformed  outdated inpatient ward into a new, purpose-driven space  initially an eight-bed “pre-admission ward,” later evolving into a walk-in crisis assessment service.

Within just six weeks, the team created a calmer, therapeutic alternative to emergency settings replacing traditional ward features with soft lighting, music, a welcoming lounge, and private assessment rooms designed for dignity and de-escalation.

Eighteen months on, the service reports zero serious incidents, strong staff and service user satisfaction, and effective management of complex presentations  Now operating at full capacity, the team is developing a three-tier crisis response model, encompassing:

1. Walk-in support – immediate access to care and assessment.
2. Short-stay support – up to 72 hours of intensive crisis work.
3. Acute assessment alternative – a bridge to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions.

Woodland View, opened in Spring 2016, is a purpose-built facility on the Ayrshire Central Hospital site, consolidating NHS Ayrshire and Arran’s mental health services into one integrated location.

The 206-bedroom hospital spans 16,100 m2, offering adult inpatient services, dementia care, psychiatric rehabilitation, and forensic services and from 2024 a new mental health assessment unit delivers care for emergency admissions. The design prioritised sustainability, community integration, and non-institutional environments to foster recovery and rehabilitation.

Inspired by the surrounding coastal landscape, Woodland View was purposefully designed to support service users’ journeys toward recovery building confidence, offering choice and paving the way for their transition home and into the community. Features like direct access to green spaces from wards have been transformative, significantly reducing incidents of restraint and violence. Patients can step into landscaped areas, connect with nature, and de-escalate distressing situations – sometimes lying on the grass to view the sky.

As with every aspect of the built environment, changes in regulations, standards and social evolution mean architectural solutions need to be resilient. Specifically in mental healthcare, changes in the human condition versus models of care can quickly impact the way, we as architects need to continuously challenge our approach to these types of facilities and how staff need to adapt their care plans.

In November 2024 Arcadis revisited this award-winning building as part of a Post Occupancy Evaluation to gain valuable insights into what design approaches continue to work well, whilst highlighting lessons learned for future projects. In 2026 Woodland View will be 10 years old – this talk will cover the POE in 2024 highlighting how the building has adapted to change with an update on the use of the mental health assessment suite and how that has impacted the community and staff.

Specifying lighting for mental health environments requires the careful alignment of safety, performance, and sustainability objectives. Beyond the traditional focus on compliance and robustness, there is now increasing emphasis on how circular economy principles can inform responsible product selection and lifecycle management. This presentation will provide guidance to lighting specifiers on applying these principles within the context of secure and behavioural health settings.

The session will examine how design for longevity, maintainability, and material recovery can be integrated into the specification process without compromising safety or aesthetic quality. Attendees will gain clarity on how to assess luminaires in terms of modularity, serviceability, and end-of-life recovery potential, alongside key standards and testing regimes such as IK, IP, and anti-ligature performance. Consideration will also be given to emerging metrics, such as embodied carbon and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), which are increasingly influencing procurement frameworks and client expectations.

The session focuses on practical principles for more inclusively designed mental health services. Highlighting how digital infrastructure can supports access, and creates barriers. I’ll give examples of where inclusive design works well and where teams can go further designing with not for.

This presentation will explore the evolving role of window design for mental health environments, drawing on original research and over two decades of sector experience. It highlights the complex interplay between safety, therapeutic outcomes, regulatory compliance, and sustainability - all of which are critical to creating environments that support recovery and protect vulnerable service users.

The session is grounded in stakeholder-driven research, taking insights from a national survey and qualitative interviews with estates professionals, architects, capital project managers, and clinicians. These stakeholders shared real-world challenges and priorities, including ligature prevention, robustness, privacy, and the need for natural light and ventilation. Their input shaped the direction of our research, helping ensure that the recommendations and insights presented reflect the real-world challenges faced in mental health environments.

Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of:
• The regulatory landscape (HTMs, HBNs, NHS Net Zero Building Standard).
• Safety-first design principles and the risks of ligature, contraband, and escape.
• The therapeutic value of daylight, ventilation, and patient control.
• The limitations of current testing protocols and the need for standardisation.
• Future developments in sustainability, lifecycle performance, and user-specific tailoring.

A key safety insight will focus on the overlooked risk posed by ceramics and glass. The presentation will explain how ceramic objects, such as cups and plates, can shatter toughened glass with minimal force due to their unique fracture mechanics. This has serious implications for secure environments and highlights the need for alternative tableware in high-risk areas - a critical consideration for estates and clinical teams alike.

The presentation also introduces Britplas’ contribution to the BRE’s “Informed Choices” testing guidance, developed in collaboration with the Design in Mental Health Network. This initiative aims to bring consistency and transparency to product testing in secure environments.
Designed for professionals responsible for shaping mental health spaces, this session offers practical guidance, strategic foresight, and an invitation to download the full whitepaper for further insights.

In mental health environments, every design choice has a profound impact on safety, dignity, and recovery. Selecting the correct product for the patient’s needs is not simply a procurement decision—it’s a vital part of creating therapeutic spaces that protect lives while promoting wellbeing.

At Anti-Ligature Shop, we recognise that one size never fits all. Each inpatient unit has its own unique blend of clinical, environmental, and human factors. The right anti-ligature solution must reflect this complexity—balancing robust safety features with comfort, aesthetics, and functionality. When products are chosen carefully and collaboratively, they not only reduce risk but also help to foster trust and independence for service users.

An inappropriate product, however well-intentioned, can have serious consequences: compromising safety, triggering anxiety, or impeding care delivery. That’s why understanding the clinical context, patient profile, and staff requirements is essential. Working closely with estates teams, clinicians, and designers ensures that the chosen product supports both operational efficiency and therapeutic outcomes.

Innovation in this sector continues to evolve—whether through load-release technology, tamper-proof fixtures, or softer, more residential finishes that reduce the institutional feel of clinical settings. But innovation alone isn’t enough; the product must be appropriate for the specific environment and the people within it.

Ultimately, selecting the right anti-ligature product is about aligning safety with humanity. It’s about designing spaces that keep people secure without compromising their right to privacy, comfort, and hope. At Anti-Ligature Shop, we see our role as partners in that mission—helping every decision-maker ensure that design genuinely supports recovery, not just risk reduction.

The presentation will cover many products based on giving a more homely feel, whilst keeping safety and robustness at the forefront. It will look at all spaces and best solution for giving a softer feel whilst maintaining best practice. Bathrooms, Bedrooms and communal spaces can look more like the home if we think more about getting the most practicable product selected.

Water Meadow View is Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust’s new £32M, 14 bed mental health support facility for adults with Learning Disabilities. Located on a 50-acre rural site within the grounds of Guild Park, the new facility has been co-designed with Service users, Experts by experience, Peer support workers, Clinical champions, Nursing leads, and families creating a true person-centred design. The new environments created support and facilitate the Trust’s Trauma informed care approach, least restrictive practices and Neurodiversity awareness.
From the outset, the aspiration and vision for the facility was to challenge the norm of inpatient MH building, create a holistic LD focused environment that responds to real service user need and want, and is unashamedly ambitious in its goal of creating an inspiring, therapeutic and restorative setting with a real sense of ‘place’. This manifests itself in a number of ways, from its idyllic rural, hillside location taking in breath-taking views of the surrounding Lancashire countryside, to its functional content including a mixture of traditional ES bedrooms and single occupancy flats promoting service user choice, empowerment and independent living.

One of the key drivers of the project was to imbed the new building into a supportive Community setting and help Service users stay connected with their homes, communities and loved ones. The site chosen, albeit rural, is on the periphery of a major new Housing development that includes new community infrastructure, civic investment and public amenities. The Master planning involved close liaison and consultation with Homes England and the local authority to embed this MH build symbiotically within the local plan.

The connection with nature and the landscape is a huge feature of the WMV project and design. This holistic approach went beyond minimizing environmental impact and looked to actively regenerate ecosystems and enrich the green context, revitalizing and strengthening community links and restoring balance and wellbeing between building users and the natural world.
Sensory design themes, when developed in partnership with service users, can create environments that not only meet clinical needs but also enhance wellbeing, safety, and autonomy. Landscape, setting, views out and connection to nature were key themes developed from our EBE/SU engagement workshops, and this informed the final landscape design. The question of ‘look and feel’ was also driven by the engagement workshops with the final approach to the massing, detailing and form directly influenced by this. Ie a non-institutional, intentionally ambiguous design aesthetic. The impact of co-production was significant, influencing both the

Mental health settings often have limited access to outdoor spaces. Relaxation sessions, meditation, and access to nature have physical and psychological benefits, including enhancement of positive emotions and reduction of depression and anxiety symptoms. VR can be used to immerse service users in a computer generated environment that replicates aspects of the natural world.
With funding from Spark Innovation, 5 headsets were purchased and are being used across the mental health inpatient facilities in Galway and Roscommon. In the first number of months service users have availed of the headsets with positive feedback. Service users appreciate the availability of experiences such as walking on a beach, swimming underwater and/or strolling through a wooded environment. Through questionnaires service users have described a lowering of anxious feelings and a feeling of general well being. This project is aligned with the pursuit of restraint reduction and the promotion of the Safewards Model which is present in all mental health care facilities in our area. The next stage of the project is to introduce the VR experience for service users who are more acutely unwell and require further de-escalation. Using the headset in this way is innovative and new. We believe with careful risk assessment and supervision the VR experience can assist the service user to deescalate and assist in returning the service user to a more settled state.

We excited to share our findings and next steps of a coproduced piece of research that how Soteria could be offered in the UK as an alternative to hospital care.

What we have to tell you:

1) What the literature worldwide reveals so far.

2) What staff and people with lived experience have told us they value about current hospital services and what they'd like to change,

3) How a Soteria type service would fit into our UK system.

Healthcare leaders often approach psychiatric emergency unit design with preconceived notions about what works, leading to costly missteps that compromise patient care. This session examines the critical intersection between architectural decisions and clinical outcomes in psychiatric emergency settings.

An emergency psychiatrist and a healthcare design architect will address common misconceptions that drive design decisions, such as the appeal of "hybrid" units that blend EmPATH and traditional psychiatric ER models. Through real-world case studies, they'll reveal the unintended consequences of mixing design elements without understanding their operational implications—from Joint Commission compliance challenges to altered nursing responsibilities that can compromise patient safety.

Drawing from extensive consultation work, case studies like the University of Iowa HealthCare EmPATH Emergency Department project – which had its disadvantages, the presenters will demonstrate how seemingly minor design choices—room configurations, observation protocols, and spatial relationships—directly influence treatment approaches, staffing requirements, and patient outcomes.

The presentation highlights a collaborative approach that integrates clinical expertise with lived experience perspectives. Peer support specialists' input fundamentally shifted design priorities from purely clinical efficiency to environments that promote dignity and healing, proving that patient-centered design isn't just ethical—it's clinically effective.

Attendees will learn to recognize when their assumptions may be limiting design effectiveness, understand the operational ramifications of popular design trends, and gain tools for aligning architectural decisions with actual treatment objectives rather than theoretical ideals.

This presentation explores the vital role of Occupational Therapy in shaping mental health environments that promote healing, recovery, and meaningful engagement. Drawing on OT expertise in human occupation, sensory processing, and therapeutic use of space, we highlight how design decisions can profoundly impact well-being. Key themes include the creation of sensory-inclusive environments that support regulation and participation, the integration of biophilic design and outdoor spaces as therapeutic resources, and the importance of therapeutically adapted seclusion suites that prioritise safety while preserving dignity. We will also shine a light on overlooked spaces - such as corridors, waiting areas, and transition zones, that hold untapped potential for engagement, connection, and comfort. By embedding OT perspectives into the design process, we advocate for environments that go beyond safety and function to foster meaning, autonomy, and recovery in inpatient mental health care.

This session will explore how emergency department (ED) design can better support patients in mental health crisis while also contributing to calmer crisis care environments. The session is aimed at Estates Directors capital planning leads, clinicians, with a focus on practical design, resourcing, and operational considerations for acute hospital settings. Drawing on real-world experience, including Bradford’s ED development, the session will highlight lessons learned, evidence-based design principles, and opportunities to support quieter, more compassionate safe, and integrated environments that benefit across patient cohorts and staff

This wotkshop presents a radical manifesto advocating for youth agency in placemaking, arguing that empowering young people to shape their environments is not only a matter of justice but a transformative psychosocial, wellbeing and civic intervention. Drawing on extensive research and case studies from Essex and Worthing, the paper explores how systemic exclusion from civic and spatial decision-making disproportionately affects disadvantaged youth, particularly in coastal towns and underserved communities.
The manifesto reframes youth participation as agency—the power and resources to influence change—rather than mere inclusion. It outlines five core arguments: (1) placemaking and design as a justice issue to counter spatial inequalities; (2) placemaking and design as a psychosocial intervention that fosters mattering, belonging, and wellbeing; (3) placemaking as a design imperative informed by youth spatial practices and liminality; (4) placemaking and design as a civic tool to cultivate custodianship and democratic engagement; and (5) placemaking as a curriculum for life, especially for disadvantaged youth.
The workshop calls for a paradigm shift in urban design and planning, urging policymakers to embed youth-led placemaking projects into school curricula and local development frameworks. By doing so, we can unlock the potential of young people not only to shape their communities but to shape themselves as empowered, connected, and future-ready citizens.

This study examines the impact of ward design on falls incidence in older adult mental health inpatient care, with a focus on Australia’s emerging shift from centralised to 'decentralised / pod' ward models. In line with national goals to reduce restrictive practices and enhance person-centred care, decentralised ward layouts—often pod-based with segmented visibility—are becoming the new standard in older adult mental health services. While these environments aim to enhance therapeutic engagement and patient satisfaction, their implications for patient safety, particularly falls, remain under-explored.
Adopting a convergent mixed methods design grounded in pragmatism, this study triangulates quantitative incident data with qualitative insights from nursing staff to gain a comprehensive understanding of how physical ward design influences falls incidence and other aspects of mental health nursing such as visual observations. Quantitative data on falls incidents, extracted from the hospital’s RISKMAN system, will be analysed pre- and post-relocation (six months either side) from a centralised to a decentralised ward. Key variables include time, location, severity, witnessed vs unwitnessed falls, and falls risk (FRASS scores).
Complementing this, semi-structured interviews with up to 12 nursing staff—each having experienced both ward layouts—will explore their perceptions of how design impacted workflow, visibility, and fall prevention practices. Analysis will use Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis, informed by Bridges’ Transition Theory to contextualise staff adaptation to environmental change.
Findings aim to inform future ward design in mental health, bridging clinical practice, service user safety, and environmental planning.