Step Exhibitions
Trauma Informed Innovation Room – Kingsway Group, Gilling Dod Architects & Britplas
Nominee Information
Two years in the making, the Co-Production Bedroom Collaboration Project aims to inspire a new benchmark in design and show what can be achieved through co-production and collaborative innovation. With an initial focus on neuro-inclusive and trauma-informed design principles within CAMHS environments, the ongoing project aims to share and apply its key learnings to benefit the wider mental health care space.
A full-scale concept bedroom, co-produced with Experts by Experience and NHS Trusts, now serves as a demonstration of the project’s key learnings. Located in Greater London, the concept bedroom has now been visited by industry professionals from across the globe since opening in June 2024.
Project history:
Engaging with Experts by Experience and NHS Trusts, in early 2023 Gilling Dod, Kingsway Group, and Britplas embarked on a collaborative research and design concept project to challenge the norms/constraints of CAMHS inpatient bedroom design and open the process to broader drivers such as neurodiversity, Autism and Trauma informed care. The project was aimed at evolving the conversation around designing for personal space and creating a healing environment.
May, 2023: User-Centred Design Review Panel
Experts by Experience, NHS Trusts and mental healthcare Architects were invited to take part in a holistic review of existing CAMHS bedroom designs and their emotional influence on service users. Together zeroing in on what the ideal bedroom should achieve, the importance of emotional safety shone through. How can the physical environment promote the basic human need for emotional safety?
August, 2023: Co-Production Workshop
Collaborating with Caudwell Children’s Charity, Andrew Arnold (Gilling Dod) and Mark Childs (Kingsway Group & DiMHN Associate) hosted a ‘Design a Bedroom’ Workshop for autistic children, young people and their families. With interactive games and activities, the workshop explored key factors in autism sensitive design and how these play a part in daily routines and emotional wellbeing.
October, 2023: Drawing Review with Caudwell Children
Implementing our learnings and the visions of Experts by Experience from the co-production workshop, the initial drawings sought to take a bedroom back to its main purpose, creating a homely and personal space in which children and young people can rest, recuperate and heal. Experts by Experience at Caudwell Children’s Charity then took part in a drawing review, shaping the final design.
January, 2024: Final Drawings & Construction Begins
Collating all input from Experts by Experience, NHS Trusts and Architects from throughout the process, the final drawings were produced for the CAMHS Bedroom Collaboration, with construction beginning in February 2024.
June, 2024: Launched at DiMH Exhibition
With the build complete, the CAMHS bedroom was officially unveiled at Design in Mental Health 2024 before opening its doors to industry professionals and Experts by Experience from across the globe.
Present Day: The Conversation Continues
The collaborative conversation continues as we begin to explore how the project’s key learnings can benefit the wider mental healthcare space in addition to CAMHS environments, with the learnings already inspiring elements in new projects, such as Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS FT’s Water Meadow View Learning Disabilities unit, Preston.
