3rd June 2025 Seminars

Alina Agarkova, Marketing Manager at Yewdale and a late-diagnosed autistic individual, offers a compelling exploration of how simple environmental changes can significantly improve the experiences of autistic people within NHS facilities, particularly in mental health settings. Drawing from her personal journey through the NHS—a journey prolonged by eight years due to sensory sensitivities and communication challenges—Alina sheds light on the often-overlooked impact of environmental factors on autistic individuals seeking healthcare.

In her talk, Alina will provide an overview of autism and delve into the sensory sensitivities that many autistic people share. She will discuss how loud noises from crowded waiting rooms, excessive lighting from fluorescent lamps or unshaded natural light, and overly bright rooms without adequate sun protection can lead to difficulty concentrating, dissociation, shutdowns, or even meltdowns. These overwhelming experiences not only hinder effective communication with healthcare providers but also exacerbate stress in environments meant to offer support.

Alina will also address the critical concern that some autistic individuals may engage in self-harm during severe meltdowns or when faced with overwhelming environments, which can, in extreme cases, lead to suicidal tendencies. Therefore, it is essential that mental health facilities are equipped to prevent harm and provide safe, calming environments.

Transitioning from challenges to solutions, Alina will highlight practical, easy-to-implement changes that can make a substantial difference. She will discuss the use of sound-absorbing panels to reduce ambient noise, curtains for light control and additional sound absorption, and blinds that manage both light and sound while introducing calming colours into the environment. She will introduce anti-ligature products supplied by Yewdale that are suitable for such settings, emphasising their role in preventing self-harm. Additionally, Alina will showcase options like in-suite doors and SafeArt that can be personalised to make autistic individuals feel more welcome, even during the most challenging times of their lives. Backed by research, she will illustrate how colour choices and personalised environments can positively influence mood and well-being among autistic individuals.

Developing good design through co-production to create safe spaces, which is appropriate to the user groups background and needs is critical to improving long term therapeutic outcomes and supporting equality, diversity and inclusion objectives of Trusts. A Year on from launching the Co-Production CAMHS Collaboration at Design in Mental Health 2024, Mark Childs, Kevin Gorman and Andrew Arnold reflect on the continued learning gained from opening the mock-up room, how it has already influenced new project design and future plans for its development globally.
Building on the previous years’ research, development and collaboration undertaken by Gilling Dod, Kingsway Group and Britplas, in June 23, we opened the 1:1 scale mock up to the wider Mental Health industry to peer review and input. Having undertaken qualitative research with Experts by Experience (EbE’s), Caudwell Children’s Charity and NHS Trusts we built a room, which was developed with a person centric approach, where rest, recouperation and sleep were central pillars of the design.
We understood in creating the room, the design was not intended to be a ‘destination’, rather a journey, with the aim of creating a lasting legacy by increasing awareness of the need for good design and to promote better outcomes for young people accessing Mental Health inpatient provision.
With a particular focus on Neurodivergent, Learning Difficulty and Eating Disorder user groups, we have held of series of Open Days across the year which have included Clinical leads, Health & Safety and Facilities teams, people with Lived Experience, Architects and Construction partners, with the central question ‘how would you build a CAMHS room’ centred around a therapeutic approach and how do you see the mock up adding to the experience for service users.

Emergency psychiatry, as a building type or environmental setting existed as a quiet backwater (or afterthought) within Hospital-based Emergency Departments in North America (akin to A&E services in the UK) until about 12 years ago when service users and clinicians began to explore alternative models of care that improved the efficiency of Emergency Departments by creating alternative care settings for persons experiencing a mental health emergency. With the encouragement of federal and state governments, a diversity new care models have been co-produced, constructed, and brought into operation in over 100 new settings. These new care models and their associated settings are targeted to improve care, reduce time in crisis care, reduce in-patient admissions, while simultaneously increasing the efficiencies of traditional A&E/ED settings. Using illustrations of newer facilities, Mr. Pitts will moderate a conversation with two pioneering clinicians from the United States an Scotland that will explore the underlying drivers for this movement, illustrate some of the advantages and challenges inherent in theses settings and discuss the implications for service users in terms of targeted and effective care.

Our workshop will guide attendees through best practices to engage people with lived experience throughout different stages of designing projects, whether planning proposals, facilities, pre-design, workforce inclusion, operations, and so much more. The audience will leave with tools to set the stage and hand the mic to people with lived experiences to amplify their voice at the table. Learn how to establish project language, create and use instruments for feedback, encourage the opportunity for expanding one’s voice, and support the shift of mental health in design throughout all project stages.

Englishcombe Lane supported housing will provide much-needed accommodation for adults with learning disabilities on an allocated site in Bath. Plans for the development, which will provide 16 units of community housing on land to the rear of 89-123 Englishcombe Lane, were approved by Bath & North East Somerset Council planning committee on 25 September.

Client and the design team set out to create the best possible internal and external environments for people with neurodiverse conditions to support their emotional wellbeing. Guided by the stakeholder team from the council who works daily with the future residents, the homes have been specifically designed to enhance the lives of adults with learning difficulties and /or autism spectrum disorder by minimising potentially distressing environmental factors whilst enabling and supporting the residents in reaching their full potential. The architects have used PAS PAS 6463:2022-Design for the mind, guidance from the Stirling University DSDC and HAPPI design principles to achieve sensitive and flexible layouts for the houses, that allow the resident and carers to control the stimuli and triggers and enable the resident to decorate and personalise their house to suit their needs and personality.

The development will provide a mixture of one-bedroom single-storey houses and two-bedroom two storey houses. There will also be a community hub for the residents. All the houses will be designed and built to ensure accessibility and adaptability for wheelchair users.

The site selected for the project was challenging: The plans needed to balance the need for community housing whilst protecting the ecology of the site and incorporate flood and drainage considerations. The houses are carefully designed around a challenging topography.
The landscape-led scheme will use a Building with Nature approach to sensitively integrate heritage and ecological conservation with high-quality design, visual amenity, and sustainable development principles.

As psychiatric care in Finland integrates with somatic healthcare, the traditional meaning of well-being supportive design is evolving. Previously located in remote, naturally beautiful environments, psychiatric hospitals are now being moved to urban hospital campuses - to de-stigmatize psychiatric care, optimise resources and provide patients with equal access to a broader range of medical services. These new hospitals prioritise functionality and flexibility, offer safe outdoor areas, high-quality workspaces, and sensory-friendly environments with carefully chosen materials, colours, and acoustic solutions.

User engagement is customary in designing any public building in Finland; however, in this context, it played a particularly crucial role. New hospitals were combining functions that have not been under one roof before. New challenges had to be solved: how to protect patients’ privacy while offering access to outdoor spaces in a densely built hospital campus; how to accommodate the needs of growing aging population; and how to create diverse and high-quality working environments – which is especially important in demanding field of psychiatric care, as Finland deals with staff shortages.

The participatory design process involved dozens of workshops with stakeholder groups, utilizing case studies, tours, virtual reality models, and site visits. Together with the users, designers aimed to create dignifying hospital environments that meet the needs of modern psychiatric care but stay within the limitations of the project. Key solutions included clear separation of staff and patient spaces, diverse shared facilities, minimizing disruptions by carefully planning logistical paths and routes of patients and visitors.

Although the old psychiatric hospital campuses can no longer fulfil the modern demands, they successfully adapted to the changing standards of care for over a century. We hope that the new generation of hospitals will also be able to change and develop along with psychiatric treatment practices.

North View is Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust’s new 150 bed, £106M Adult Acute inpatient unit, at North Manchester General hospital. The scheme replaced the Trust’s inpatient dormitory accommodation - Park House, and forms part of the NHP/Healthy Neighbourhood Masterplan for the site which reimagines a multi-faceted and holistic approach to healthcare delivery at the heart of the Community.

Key topics/themes –
• Once in a lifetime opportunity to redesign a service. The clinical vision. Clinical and Operational learnings from the past.
• Funding/politics/navigating the Business case process. The ‘Economics’ of modern MH inpatient care. The need for change.
• Design brief – Continuing to push boundaries and apply innovation.
• Designing/engagement/procurement through the pandemic. Challenges and reflections.
• Co-production/Stakeholders informing design. > ‘Person-Centred-approach’, ensuring SU voice is not lost in the engineering.
• NHP context/Healthy neighbourhoods master-planning. Integrating the design/delivery within the site wide masterplan/NHP timelines/diverse stakeholder group.
• Creating/protecting a human scale on a major build. Maintaining the ‘person perspective’. Avoiding the asylum.
• Designing multi-storey inpatient environments >challenges/opportunities. ‘Gardens in the air’.
• Risk and nursing> Evolution of Ward typology design, standardisation vs pathway drivers. Safety and psychologically informed environments.
• Place making and narratives. The importance of landscape and artwork. Addressing the legacies of the past and a reset on the role of MH services in the community.
• NZC and Mental health settings. Fully electric solution. Reflections/lessons learned.
• Construction delivery through a pandemic, European War, cost-of-living crisis.
• Handover/transition planning/commissioning > use of tech and VR.
• First 6 months of occupation > reflections/early indicators around changed behaviours/ownership. Lessons learned and future legacy.

The presentation would take a multi-facetted approach with representations/insights from the Trust (GMMH – Estates and Clinical), Service users and staff, Designers (GDA/iteriad) and possibly contractors (IHP).

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust is an NHS Trust which runs King George Hospital in Goodmayes and Queen's Hospital in Romford.

Queen’s Hospital is a relatively recent PFI hospital. The Emergency Department (ED) was designed to accommodate 75 patients/day. The Trust is currently experiencing attendance numbers averaging 150 patients/day, placing both the staff and the accommodation under significant strain. In addition to the rise in overall patient numbers, the Trust are seeing increasing numbers of patients presenting with mental health (MH) issues. These patients are currently being accommodated within the ED, to the detriment of both the MH patients and the other ED patients.

Arcadis were appointed by the Trust to work with them to reconfigure an area of Queen’s Hospital to incorporate a Same Day Emergency Care unit on a challenging fast track programme. This would allow a wider reconfiguration of ED, resolving many of the issues the Trust were experiencing, including the provision of dedicated mental health areas for both Adults and Children.

The Trust want to provide a better environment for diagnosis and to better cope with potential extended stay while more appropriate accommodations can be found for those patients requiring further mental health support. Arcadis have developed some exemplar principles for improving the care environment within S136 units called ‘Halcyon’. This was presented to Trust who wanted to incorporate a number of the ideas even though care is not long term. Working closely with both the ED clinical team and the Adult and Children’s Mental Health teams this talk will show how Arcadis are developing accommodation that will allow the Trust to deliver the type of care they aspire to provide for a vulnerable cohort of patients thereby significantly improving the patient experience for both ED and Mental Health patients.

As healthcare systems evolve to better address the needs of patients with complex co-occuring medical and psychiatric needs, the integration of psychiatric and medical care in one place at the same time has become increasingly essential.
Drawing on extensive expertise, Virginia Pankey, HOK Architect and FGI contributor and Dr. Marsha Wittink, Academic Chief of the Division of Medicine in Psychiatry at the University of Rochester and chair of the Medical-Psychiatry Unit Consortium, will explore the leading developments in design and operational guidelines for Inpatient medical-psychiatry units. This presentation will delve into the innovative approaches being implemented to address the complex needs of patients with concomitant acute mental and physical health conditions.

Note* - we can also extend an invitation to Maarten van Schijdel, leading researcher in the area of Medical-Psychiatry Unit innovation and collaborating design expert from the Netherlands.
Building on new clinical consensus guidelines for MPUs, information gathered from the recent Reimagining Medical-Psychiatry Unit workshop and data from a patient-priorities study at the University of Rochester; and key input from peer support specialists with lived experience, our speakers will discuss the following key points:
• What Matters Most to Patients: Drawing from recent work conducted on the medical-psychiatry unit at the University of Rochester, we will present data highlighting patients’ desire for de-stigmatized integrated care where patients can actively voice their concerns, participate in treatment decision-making and gain a deeper understanding of how their medical and psychiatric health are connected.
• Evolution of Treatment Paradigms: Emphasizing the shift towards integrated, whole-person care for patients with complex medical and psychiatric needs.
• Reimbursement and Resource Allocation Challenges: Addressing the financial and logistical barriers to developing and maintaining medical-psychiatry units, with a focus on overcoming challenges in reimbursement structures.
• Development of Operational and Physical Guidelines: Highlighting the creation of standardized clinical and design guidelines to ensure consistent, high-quality care across institutions, focusing on both operational efficiency and physical design.
• Designing Therapeutic Environments: Exploring key design considerations that create safe, healing spaces that address both psychiatric and medical needs, balancing patient safety and therapeutic efficacy.
• Dual Certification and Staff Training: Advocating for the dual certification of units and the essential role of staff training in de-escalation techniques to ensure a holistic approach to care.
• Regulatory Compliance: Navigating the complexities of regulatory frameworks, including meeting behavioral health safety standards (such as ligature resistance) while ensuring HIPAA compliance.

This roundtable will mark the 10th edition of the Design With People in Mind (DWPIM) booklets published by Design in Mental Health Network. The booklets summarise key evidence in themed areas around mental health settings, ranging from nature and sound to informed choices and art. In this roundtable, the members of the Research and Education work stream will discuss the current DWPIM booklet, which describes the key evidence around 'good design practices' within inpatient mental health environments and reflect upon the series as a whole.

Some the themes which will be discussed will include: What does the core evidence tell us about what 'good' design looks like? How can we best describe the 'lived experience' of inpatient care? What should come next for stakeholder engagement in designing for mental heath? How can we create a better dialogue between research knowledge and practitioner knowledge around inpatient design?

The roundtable will also serve as the formal launch of the 10th edition of DWPIM and will be supported by the distribution and promotion of the booklet across the conference.

The speakers for the roundtable will include: Prof Steven Brown; Katharine Lazenby; Prof Paula Reavey; Dr Paul Hanna

The session will consist of four short sets of introductory comments by the speakers (8 mins approx each) followed by around 25 mins of questions and discussion with the audience.

The Government of Jersey has been enhancing La Moye Prison in phases since 2002. The prison has the task of serving all convicted and remand prisoners on the island, including females, males, young offenders, and people with disabilities. The aim has been to bring the facilities up to modern standards, whilst ensuring the site remains safe and secure.

Phase 4 of the build involved designing a new visitor and staff facility building.

The aim of the Prison was to change the perception of the Prison environment to the public to improve and create new links with the community. This meant the ambitious task of replacing parts of the existing Prison perimeter fencing with a building and new public face that is open and welcoming. The building houses the key functions to which the public experiences the Prison, this includes visiting friends and relatives, as well as professional and legal visits.

Natural light and access to views can have significant benefits on mental health promoting safer and more rehabilitative environments within a custodial environment. The challenge for Arcadis was how to achieve this yet maintain security?

This discussion will demonstrate how large elements of glazing on the main approach elevation and outer prison secure line enabled the Visits Hall to be flooded with large amounts of natural light, as well as providing a pleasant view to the landscape. Detainees feel more connected to the outside world, reducing feelings of isolation and improving overall psychological wellbeing. The first-floor staff training, canteen and rest areas, again with large areas of glazing, allow staff to remain on site during break times and de-stress with views to the sea.

The external works and landscaping create a welcoming environment for visitors and enhancing the public experience of the prison.

The new Acute Mental Health Unit at Ipswich Hospital, Queensland, Australia has been designed to fulfil an ambitious vision around delivering best-practice recovery-focused care for the community.

A foundation of healing underpins an environment that nurtures wellbeing and mindfulness. Architecture, interior design and landscape work together to establish a holistic setting of calm to restore dignity to the healing journey, normalise mental health care in the community and deliver a new benchmark for recovery-orientated care in Australia.

An overarching philosophy around ‘designing for people’ has shaped both the process and the outcomes of this project. The design focus has been on caring for people, consumers, their loved ones and those people providing the care, to create an environment that supports the network around each person and enables care for the ‘whole person’.

The community has been at the core of the co-design process and the community remains the foundation of the care model that is now being successfully delivered.

A community of stakeholders – the facility has been designed through a deep and comprehensive engagement process that welcomed the community, including First Nations representatives, to participate in the co-design journey with equal footings.

A community of care – the building as a setting to enable best practice in a rehab-focused model of care – consumers, carers and staff form a progressive community focused on healing and mindfulness.

The family community – breaking down stigma, consumers, carers and family are welcomed with pride into the healing environment and participate in the recovery journey, aiding transitioning to home and resulting in reduced relapse.

Evidence is currently being gathered which indicates that the healing environment is profoundly benefitting the community through more effective healing and a more effective workforce providing both health and cost benefits for the whole community.

The presentation will outline key project objectives, the collaborative design process and innovative design manoeuvres that have shaped the facility and are now directly benefitting the community. This will include insights around the type of care being delivered, family participation, staff satisfaction and consumer recovery rates.

We aim to present the new Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) Rivers Centre mental health facility near Norwich, which is nearing completion and is expected to welcome service users and staff in early 2025
This investment provides state-of-the-art facilities to support local mental health patients from modern, purpose-built environments for people who need specialist inpatient mental healthcare.
The project consists of 3 new single-gender wards for adults, a purpose-built gym and a central hub which has been carefully designed to promote a feeling of community. This central area houses a main reception and café and provides the ‘heart’ of the development.
The presentation will focus on the process of collaborative working, with input from service users, staff, carers and estates teams who were instrumental in defining the project aspirations.
The presentation will demonstrate where these aspirations were able to be met (or not) during the design and construction stages.
It will also capture the financial challenges that the project faced, yet managed to overcome, with pragmatic, rationalised solutions through standardisation and repeatable layouts.
Despite these challenges, we will present a beautifully realised project, with genuinely beneficial outcomes, born out of perseverance, optimism and prioritised rationalisation.

The main themes of the presentation will be.
1. Need: Why the project was required.
2. Definition of the project brief through extensive workshopping, with participation by people with Lived Experience, Staff members, Carers, Inpatients and their families, Estates and FM teams.
3. A review of key spaces which reflect the outcomes of these workshops; Central Welcome Hub, Wards, social & mealtime areas, courtyards, gym and activity spaces.
4. Collaboration: Engagement with members of the design team, including the landscape architects to really enrich the projects connection with the natural environment, as well as the courtyards. The new facility makes full use of the natural environment, providing a haven where both patients and staff can relax away from clinical areas. This creates a positive impact on everyone’s wellbeing, while also playing an important role in service users’ recovery.
5. Sustainability: The site has been developed to be as sustainable as possible with electricity supplied from solar panels and heating via air source heat pumps, currently on target to achieve a BREEAM excellent rating.
6. Co-production: An arts strategy in partnership with Hospital Rooms, is generating original artwork for the centre, with service users, local people and renowned artists all collaborating on the installations.
Turner prize-nominated Mark Titchner’s work is one of many pieces featured in the new facility. His mural has been installed on the external gym wall near the new entrance to the Hellesdon wards.
7. Construction: Advantages derived through the construction stages.

This presentation explores how thoughtful, patient-centered furniture design can enhance mental health environments by balancing safety, comfort, and aesthetics. With a focus on ligature risk reduction, the presentation draws from real-world examples, such as the Peter Hodgkinson Centre and Camden & Islington, where Hygenius provided custom fitted solutions to NHS facilities. These projects illustrate how high-quality, reduced-ligature furniture fosters therapeutic, homely environments that support mental health recovery, while maintaining critical safety standards in NHS care settings.

Places of safety are sometimes the starting point for individuals’ journey to recovery, setting the tone for their patient experience and should provide sanctuary, fostering psychological comfort.
Apart from being safe, we feel that these environments should be more therapeutic.
This can be achieved by using evidence-based design concepts surrounding the senses, proxemics and neurodiversity; biophilic visual interest; organic-influenced materials palette for a tactile experience; forest sounds and smells; circadian rhythm lighting and patient choice.
Estates up and down the country vary in quality with regards to their places of safety. The talk will cover what can be done to set standards for this and for the additional upfront capital costs of building in beautiful spaces, could we see greater value in patient wellbeing and self-regulation affecting length of stay and overall recovery.
The talk will discuss a concept design call ‘Halycon’ developed by Arcadis for Mental Health Awareness week in 2024 and a case study will demonstrate how aspects of this thought leadership are already being applied practically within an acute A&E department which is due for completion in early 2025.

A child’s ability to regulate their nervous & vestibular systems can help them stay focused, control emotions and improve attention spans and sleep. Some children process sensory input different than others—some are constantly seeking out movement while others prefer to stay still or move in a more rhythmic manner. Some kids are ‘sensory seekers’ and will be constantly jumping, bumping into things on purpose, have lack of personal space, seek out loud noises and more. Instead of admonishing these behaviors, it is important to understand the physiology and psychology behind these actions and how the built environment can help regulate these seemingly out of control behaviors that can be disruptive.

It is vital for children to have the opportunity to regulate their nervous system and emotions, whether they’re in a behavioral healthcare space or in the classroom. This presentation will share design strategies that can be easily incorporated to allow for neuroregulation (gross motor rooms, incorporating technology that promotes movement, safe access to indoor and outdoor spaces where movement is encouraged) as well as in progress or completed projects that have such strategies or spaces.

There will be a focus on neuroregulation strategies and spaces in child and adolescent behavioral health facilities and education settings, where children may have more difficulty with regulating and need more assistance and opportunities to do so. Considering everything from how a child will move through the space to furniture selection to different textures and finishes in a room can be simple ways to help therapies and outcomes.

We aim to present the new Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) Rivers Centre mental health facility near Norwich, which is nearing completion and is expected to welcome service users and staff in early 2025
This investment provides state-of-the-art facilities to support local mental health patients from modern, purpose-built environments for people who need specialist inpatient mental healthcare.
The project consists of 3 new single-gender wards for adults, a purpose-built gym and a central hub which has been carefully designed to promote a feeling of community. This central area houses a main reception and café and provides the ‘heart’ of the development.
The presentation will focus on the process of collaborative working, with input from service users, staff, carers and estates teams who were instrumental in defining the project aspirations.
The presentation will demonstrate where these aspirations were able to be met (or not) during the design and construction stages.
It will also capture the financial challenges that the project faced, yet managed to overcome, with pragmatic, rationalised solutions through standardisation and repeatable layouts.
Despite these challenges, we will present a beautifully realised project, with genuinely beneficial outcomes, born out of perseverance, optimism and prioritised rationalisation.

The main themes of the presentation will be.
1. Need: Why the project was required.
2. Definition of the project brief through extensive workshopping, with participation by people with Lived Experience, Staff members, Carers, Inpatients and their families, Estates and FM teams.
3. A review of key spaces which reflect the outcomes of these workshops; Central Welcome Hub, Wards, social & mealtime areas, courtyards, gym and activity spaces.
4. Collaboration: Engagement with members of the design team, including the landscape architects to really enrich the projects connection with the natural environment, as well as the courtyards. The new facility makes full use of the natural environment, providing a haven where both patients and staff can relax away from clinical areas. This creates a positive impact on everyone’s wellbeing, while also playing an important role in service users’ recovery.
5. Sustainability: The site has been developed to be as sustainable as possible with electricity supplied from solar panels and heating via air source heat pumps, currently on target to achieve a BREEAM excellent rating.
6. Co-production: An arts strategy in partnership with Hospital Rooms, is generating original artwork for the centre, with service users, local people and renowned artists all collaborating on the installations.
Turner prize-nominated Mark Titchner’s work is one of many pieces featured in the new facility. His mural has been installed on the external gym wall near the new entrance to the Hellesdon wards.
7. Construction: Advantages derived through the construction stages.

We are all experts in our own lives, so how do we make the most of our Lived Experience partnerships?
Ever wondered what it is like to be an ‘Expert by Experience’?
Is there a ‘right way’?
This presentation helps to debunk some myths, provokes thinking and gives some tips on maximizing the impact of this amazing but often under used ( and sometimes misused)resource.
The presentation seeks to inform, educate, challenge and question assumptions about the use of ‘Experts by Experience’ by using the 5 WH format of ‘who- what -why -where -when and how’ drawing on true life examples of service user involvement as experienced by the presenter .
Co-production will be woven into the examples , provoking thought about its value in terms of benefits to programmes and organisations ( team work, value for money, getting it right first time , futures planning to name a few) and areas for development. ( impact measurement , inclusivity, status)
Slides will be ( mercifully!) concise relying mainly on graphics with ‘Tips’ outlined in bold plain wording.
No more than 6 slides in total
( who what why where when how)
15 minutes duration
5 minutes for questions
While this presentation is intended to provide some tips around an engagement framework it will also leave delegates with questions to ask about their own organisation or programme and provide great context for their engagement at the conference and exhibition space.

In this interactive workshop, we will explore the principles of neurodiverse-inclusive design.
The workshop will begin with a 20-minute presentation introducing neurodiversity. We will cover fundamental design principles, including sensory zoning, wayfinding, acoustics, lighting, and colour schemes, as well as more advanced strategies for creating environments that reduce stress and enhance comfort for neurodivergent users.
Following the presentation, participants will engage in a 30-minute hands-on design activity. Working in groups, they will be given a partial floor plan and tasked with designing the missing section for their assigned user group e.g. overwhelmed staff in a hospital or community members in distress. This exercise will focus on the spatial layout but also considerations for interior finishes, textures, lighting, and other sensory features. Our facilitators will circulate among the groups, offering guidance and feedback as participants develop their designs.
To add an extra layer of challenge, the floor plans provided to participants will intentionally contain some common inclusive design mistakes. As part of the exercise, participants will be encouraged not only to complete the missing sections of the design but also to identify and suggest improvements for these intentional errors. This element aims to sharpen their critical thinking skills and reinforce their ability to spot potential barriers to inclusion, ensuring that their designs are truly neurodiverse-friendly.
The workshop will conclude with a review session where groups will present their designs, highlighting how they applied neurodiverse-inclusive principles. This review will provide an opportunity for peer learning and constructive feedback, reinforcing the concepts covered during the session.
Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of how to create neurodiverse-friendly spaces, equipped with practical strategies they can apply to future projects. By blending theory with hands-on experience, this workshop aims to ensure that the knowledge gained is both engaging and memorable.

This project was initiated to look at Environment needs from an Occupational Therapy Perspective for Acute and PICU services and involved a review of Acute and PICU environments across the company involving over 40 Occupational Therapists, Occupational Therapy Assistants and Occupational Therapy Students across over 40 different Acute and PICU services nationwide within the company. This involved professional experience and included feedback from service users in order to develop a list of common themes and solutions across two service line meetings. The information gathered has been collated and shared within our Safe Environment Group forum and links are being made with the Design and Quality Team within the company to look at developing ideal environment standards and solutions to common environment difficulties. The project looked at the physical, social and sensory environment and impact this had on meaningful engagement (accessibility of meaningful activity), challenging behaviours (considerations of how the environment plays a role in challenging behaviours for example flashpoints), social interaction (enabling service users to interact with others within the environment) and meeting mental and physical health needs (sensory needs, sleep hygiene, mobility and transfers etc.). Fixtures and fittings within the context of service user’s bedrooms and personal care facilities, ward space, therapy space, outdoor space and for PICU services seclusion and extra care space were identified. This review considered areas of strength, deficit and potential solutions to develop and enhance the environment. The aim of this project is to increase Occupational Therapy input in the design and development of Acute and PICU inpatient Environment’s which considers and includes the needs and perspectives of service users.

Historically, care desks in mental healthcare facilities have gravitated toward fully enclosed fortresses with the explicit purpose of protecting care givers. In reality, the stigma surrounding those experiencing mental illness and older, purely palliative care models were drivers as much as staff safety. The underlying “Us vs Them” mental construct led to clear and hard divisions between staff and patient spaces. Even today, this model is favored among many caregivers and often assumed to be the only viable solution. Indeed, staff safety is an important consideration, especially given the current shortage of mental health caregivers, however, research and project-based evidence suggest the enclosed care desk may not always be the most effective approach, not only for recovery, but also for the safety and wellbeing of service users and staff.

This presentation will explore drivers and solutions for various care desk typologies, and will look to research on the topic, including perspectives from service users and clinicians, for evaluating the effectiveness of each in the context of a recovery-based model of care. Specific project examples will demonstrate important lessons learned about the designs, but more importantly about the design process and operational policies established in service. It is evident there is no single solution for all projects, but this presentation aims to provide a better understanding of both the important and essential aspects of care desk design.

As we strive for better mental health solutions in today’s world, it is crucial to integrate sustainable practices into design and development. The challenge lies in creating environments that not only promote safety and well-being but also contribute to a more sustainable world overall.

Designing for the mental health environment, safety is a fundamental concern. Facilities must prioritise safety while also addressing mental health needs with sensitivity and care.

To achieve this safety in products and spaces, testing is critical. Through proper testing, ranging from robustness to infection control, products and designs can be evaluated to ensure they are not only fit for purpose but also environmentally sustainable. [Refer to case study]

But this admirable focus on the built environment and the immediate surroundings of patients can only exist within a larger context: that of the wellbeing of the wider world.

We can not ignore the climate crisis and conservation, care and sustainable thinking should be permeating our designs, our planning and our priorities. [Refer to case study]

Current industry practices highlight ongoing efforts to balance effectiveness and sustainability, with many companies are now aligning with sustainable goals, using resources more responsibly and seeking more eco-friendly materials. NHS targets and the evergreen Programme provide a roadmap for sustainability in healthcare. These programmes encourage the adoption of greener practices and set goals for a more sustainable future.

The journey to sustainability is ongoing. Understanding what sustainability means and why it is important is key. Ultimately it is about minimising environmental impact. [Refer to case study for example]

Balancing performance and sustainability can be challenging. However, making sustainable choices across all aspects of design and production is essential for long-term success. This does not have to compromise infection control or quality.

The People | Planet | Profit principle provides helpful information for the industry and encourages a balanced approach in all areas.

Shared responsibility is vital. Every stakeholder, from designer to consumer, has a role to play in making sustainable choices that benefit both people and the planet. Setting targets and sharing visions enables wider change. Aligning on sustainability goals fosters innovation and creates room for new, environmentally friendly solutions that consider social and community values.

Innovation is the change, challenging processes or legacy systems. Ultimately, we all have a role to play in protecting the planet to protect our loved ones, and by embracing sustainable mental health design, we can contribute to a healthier future for both people and the environment.

The SouthWest London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust commissioned new hospital buildings, Trinity and Shaftesbury, which opened in December 2022 and September 2023 respectively.
The Estates Modernisation Programme focused on the de-stigmatization and integration of mental healthcare within a community. New secure and acute inpatient wards were placed next to ca 900 new homes, a new 13-hectare public park, retail shops and community spaces for an emerging South London neighbourhood. The design aimed to create therapeutic surroundings for staff and service-users with courtyard gardens, ample daylight and fresh air, dignified surroundings and safe layouts.
In the one-year period since the first building was handed-over to the Trust, the initial post-occupancy data shows serious incidents are down by over 36% - an exceptional and noteworthy benefit. But the intention of this presentation is to take an unvarnished look back; using both recent incident data and feedback interviews, it will examine the nuances of what has worked and what hasn’t in the design of new mental healthcare facilities.
Designers live in a bubble partially of our own making. We believe in the therapeutic benefit of well-designed environments. But when this vision meets the reality of understaffed, under-funded and risk-averse healthcare institutions, how do these ideals stand up?
The presentation will look at how the new wards have been adapted after hand-over by the Trust to address practical concerns about control and security. It will look at what specific features of the new hospital are valued (or not) by service-users, clinical staff and management. Lastly the talk will examine the way a major healthcare project is co-produced between designers and clinicians; through a multi-year process of design and delivery, how stakeholder(s) can uphold the vision of better, safer and more therapeutic mental healthcare facilities?

In this session, Katharine Lazenby (DIMH and Expert by Experience) and Paula Reavey (Professor of Psychology & Mental Health) will discuss the findings of a recent systematic review conducted by the research and education workstream members of DIMH. The discussion will be structured in terms of how or whether academic findings successfully translate into lived experience (LE). Although the systematic review sets out to examine how the scientific/academic literature defines 'good' design in mental health environments, one of the key focus areas to be discussed in this presentation is whether good design makes people 'feel' better, and if so, in what ways? And according to whom?

Katharine and Paula will provide an open dialogue rather than presentation monologue: Paula will make a statement from the academic work and Katharine will ask a question of this from the LE perspective opening up a conversation and set of provocations related to 'knowing' good design and its success in capturing 'feeling'.

Historically, care desks in mental healthcare facilities have gravitated toward fully enclosed fortresses with the explicit purpose of protecting care givers. In reality, the stigma surrounding those experiencing mental illness and older, purely palliative care models were drivers as much as staff safety. The underlying “Us vs Them” mental construct led to clear and hard divisions between staff and patient spaces. Even today, this model is favored among many caregivers and often assumed to be the only viable solution. Indeed, staff safety is an important consideration, especially given the current shortage of mental health caregivers, however, research and project-based evidence suggest the enclosed care desk may not always be the most effective approach, not only for recovery, but also for the safety and wellbeing of service users and staff.

This presentation will explore drivers and solutions for various care desk typologies, and will look to research on the topic, including perspectives from service users and clinicians, for evaluating the effectiveness of each in the context of a recovery-based model of care. Specific project examples will demonstrate important lessons learned about the designs, but more importantly about the design process and operational policies established in service. It is evident there is no single solution for all projects, but this presentation aims to provide a better understanding of both the important and essential aspects of care desk design.