Prioritised Rationalisation Through Standardisation and Repeatable Layouts is the Key to Realising the New Rivers Centre Mental Health Facility at Hellesdon Hospital

Synopsis

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.