Step Exhibitions
Lynfield Mount Hospital Redevelopment – P+HS Architects
Nominee Information
The Lynfield Mount redevelopment will redefine mental healthcare design in Bradford, creating an environment that prioritises recovery and well-being. P+HS Architects’ mission is clear: design spaces that enhance lives. This project embodies this vision, considering inclusivity, wellness, and dignity for those in mental health crisis. Perhaps uniquely, P+HS appointed a lived experience consultant as part of their team, helping to shape the design alongside formal stakeholder engagement processes.
The existing 1960s hospital is dark and unwelcoming, reinforcing stigma of mental healthcare and struggling to support recovery journeys. Since 2019 a new vision has been emerging – one that facilitates exceptional care, enabling the Trust to transform care, attract and retain top staff, and evolve their service in the future.
The new vision is apparent from arrival. A new main entrance is surrounded by welcoming landscaping. Elegant materials incorporating artwork wrap a new entrance, which is flooded with natural light. In hours of darkness the entrance cladding will be backlit, highlighting biophilic design motifs that soften a once daunting entrance to the hospital.
Working with the existing buildings, a new link is formed to the “old” main building, which is remodelled to focus on inclusivity and wellbeing. Bay windows offer views of landscaped courtyards, reinforcing the connection to nature. An open café for service users and visitors includes access to gardens, with family visiting facilities nearby, along with off-ward therapy and activity facilities.
From here, access is created to two new in-patient wards, designed to best-practice standards.
The biggest impact of stakeholder co-production is reflected in the range of therapy space provided on each ward. People with lived experience told us they wanted choice to simply ‘be’ and to know that from the moment they are admitted to hospital, their wellbeing is the most important thing.
Front and foremost are flexible, creative and functional therapy rooms, alongside group rooms for yoga and a sensory room for reflective or immersive time.
New wards have easy access to external spaces, allowing for a range of activity and seasonal interest. Again, there are a variety of spaces; for those who choose to be on their own, in groups, or tinker with horticulture.
During engagement, service users requested window seats in corridor spaces: an intermediate space between private bedrooms and busy communal spaces. Large open-plan day spaces are also broken down into smaller zones for reading, activity or TV, and dining spaces allow quiet or community dining to suit individual preference on any given day.
Designed to maximise off-site construction methods, the building will perform beyond current Building Regulations requirements and reduce construction waste. A new electric-only energy supply removes reliance on fossil fuels and will be supported by energy-efficient fittings and controls throughout.
Lynfield Mount deserves this award. Faced with extraordinary challenges of a 60% budget reduction, the team remained solely focused on user experience, using co-production to create a healing environment. Once built, it will challenge outdated perceptions and create a place that brings real benefit to people’s lives in challenging times.
