Step Exhibitions
Austin State Hospital Brain Health Campus Plan And Hospital Replacement – Page
Nominee Information
Texas is advancing brain health care with the Austin State Hospital (ASH) Brain Health Campus Redesign. This 95-acre, human-centred campus fosters community connections, partnerships, and a full continuum of care. Its flexible design encourages collaboration to enhance the patient’s experience. The 374,000-square-foot hospital, which opened in 2024, includes 240 adult beds. A research-driven approach shaped the design, with input from stakeholders to create an environment that supports therapy, recovery, and wellness. The design team collaborated with clinicians and hospital leaders to create a space that reduces stigma, prioritizes security, and maximizes natural light, resulting in a healing environment for both patients and staff.
ASH honours the 164-year legacy of Texas’ oldest psychiatric hospital while reimagining mental health care through a trauma-informed, forward-thinking lens. The campus plan integrates cultural and sustainable features, creating a bridge to the surrounding community. The design reduces the scale of the facilities, organizing them around green spaces and heritage trees. The open campus invites the community into its park-like setting, reinforcing efforts to de-stigmatize mental healthcare. Reclaimed pecan trees are now featured in key areas like nurse desks, reception, admissions, and the courtroom, while the cultural significance is reflected in displays and the preserved original foundation, with an informational plaque at the campus centre.
Sustainable features include recycled materials, energy-efficient systems, and modernized utilities across the historic campus. The flexible design accommodates both current and future treatments, guiding patients seamlessly through admission, recovery, and reintegration into the community. Integrated with its urban surroundings, the hospital reflects Central Texas’ values by emphasizing outdoor access—a key element of mental wellness. Transformative design reduces stress with private bedrooms, environmental controls, and acoustic mitigation, while promoting healing through natural light, art, and outdoor connections. Communal spaces foster dignity, confidence, and human connection, ensuring an inclusive atmosphere.
Consolidating patient services into a single, strategically planned three-story facility enhances efficiency with shorter travel distances and optimized land use. A monumental stair and elevator bank ensure safe, accessible movement across the facility, with ground-level access on two floors. The 12 secure courtyards offer patients choice and autonomy in their healing process. Each 24-bed unit is divided into three 8-bed wings centred around a vibrant milieu, including activity rooms, quiet areas, and outdoor spaces. Smart circulation paths separate patient and staff movement, while dining, visiting, and therapy areas enhance the patient experience. A central treatment mall offers daytime programming, including exercise, art therapy, and peer counselling, ensuring a holistic approach to healing.
A trauma-informed design minimizes re-traumatization, addressing the fact that many ASH patients have encountered distressing experiences in legal, emergency room, or shelter settings. To counter this, the hospital features restorative elements such as ample daylight, biophilic design, circadian lighting, open nursing stations, and ligature-resistant materials. Amenities for decompression, exercise, and nutrition further promote a healing, inclusive, and strategic approach to long-term recovery.
The ASH Brain Health Campus sets a new standard in psychiatric care—purposeful, innovative, and deeply human—reshaping the future of mental health treatment with empathy and excellence.
