Millennium Lodge, the Lincolnshire Secure Children’s Home, has been conceived as a pathfinder scheme at a time when no design standard existed to address the combined educational, therapeutic and secure requirements of a modern setting. From the outset, we placed service user voice at the centre of the project using a tailored structured engagement model that drew upon the experience of Young People and ‘experts by experience’ and the professionals who could translate their insights into tangible design outcomes. This approach ensured innovative and thoughtful engagement throughout, from first consultation to technical completion.
Our methodology blended multiple evidence-gathering techniques to capture service users’ perspectives on what an effective, caring environment should feel like. We conducted joint visits with the End User (Lincolnshire Secure Children’s Home Operational Team) to exemplar Secure Children’s Homes and comparable therapeutic environments. We held structured client engagement meetings and model testing workshops. Visualisations and flythroughs supported scenario-based discussions and material samples helped articulate responses to sensory needs, privacy thresholds, feelings of safety, and what “homely” looks like in a secure context. These sessions were planned with the End User and key stakeholders to ensure we had the right collaborative parties involved to explore the technical or operational constraints—demonstrating that the service user group was genuinely central to project governance.
This coproduction led to distinctive and high impact decisions. The experience of the Young Person influenced the wayfinding strategy and the overall narrative of exploration and growth—“Shoot for the moon; even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars”—which shaped identity, language and spatial hierarchy across the building. Residential houses named Pioneer, Opportunity, Discovery, Atlantis and Explorer, together with diverse therapeutic and educational zones, reflect a co-created ethos that supports curiosity, progression and emotional regulation whilst normalising access to educational and healthcare support. In the external environment, their input informed a clear hierarchy of outdoor spaces—from social courtyards and active learning areas to sensory gardens and quiet decompression zones—each designed to foster dignity, autonomy and safe connection to nature.
We designed problem-solving into the process by convening joint sessions with End Users, operational staff, designers, contractors and manufacturers to test specifications and challenge assumptions. Where standard products could not balance safety and warmth, we worked with suppliers on adaptations and new product development to achieve secure yet noninstitutional finishes, fixtures and furniture. This collaborative cycle ensured that operational workflows, maintenance realities and lived experience were reconciled in practical, buildable solutions.
The impact of this co‑production is evidenced in improved spatial clarity and visibility, calmer sensory qualities, intuitive wayfinding, greater access to therapeutic outdoor environments, and an interior character that feels protective rather than punitive. Ultimately, service user involvement has materially shaped the brief, the design language and the technical delivery, resulting in a secure, homely setting that better supports rehabilitation, education and future opportunity.
