Design and Digital Solutions Theatre Seminars

This presentation will explore the evolving role of window design for mental health environments, drawing on original research and over two decades of sector experience. It highlights the complex interplay between safety, therapeutic outcomes, regulatory compliance, and sustainability - all of which are critical to creating environments that support recovery and protect vulnerable service users.

The session is grounded in stakeholder-driven research, taking insights from a national survey and qualitative interviews with estates professionals, architects, capital project managers, and clinicians. These stakeholders shared real-world challenges and priorities, including ligature prevention, robustness, privacy, and the need for natural light and ventilation. Their input shaped the direction of our research, helping ensure that the recommendations and insights presented reflect the real-world challenges faced in mental health environments.

Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of:
• The regulatory landscape (HTMs, HBNs, NHS Net Zero Building Standard).
• Safety-first design principles and the risks of ligature, contraband, and escape.
• The therapeutic value of daylight, ventilation, and patient control.
• The limitations of current testing protocols and the need for standardisation.
• Future developments in sustainability, lifecycle performance, and user-specific tailoring.

A key safety insight will focus on the overlooked risk posed by ceramics and glass. The presentation will explain how ceramic objects, such as cups and plates, can shatter toughened glass with minimal force due to their unique fracture mechanics. This has serious implications for secure environments and highlights the need for alternative tableware in high-risk areas - a critical consideration for estates and clinical teams alike.

The presentation also introduces Britplas’ contribution to the BRE’s “Informed Choices” testing guidance, developed in collaboration with the Design in Mental Health Network. This initiative aims to bring consistency and transparency to product testing in secure environments.
Designed for professionals responsible for shaping mental health spaces, this session offers practical guidance, strategic foresight, and an invitation to download the full whitepaper for further insights.

Designing Calm in Crisis: Reimagining MHCAS for Safer Patient Care explores the need for a purpose-designed Mental Health Crisis Assessment Service in response to rising demand, audit findings, and national priorities. The presentation focuses on how thoughtful refurbishment and intelligent spatial design can transform existing NHS environments into calm, therapeutic spaces, even within significant financial constraints. It highlights how MHCAS can relieve pressure on emergency departments, improve patient flow, and enhance safety and dignity for people in crisis. By working creatively within NHS budget limitations, the project demonstrates how good design can deliver meaningful improvements to patient experience and care outcomes.

Outdoor spaces in mental health services are often treated as peripheral, despite growing evidence that contact with nature supports emotional regulation, recovery, and staff wellbeing. Drawing on clinical experience as an NHS psychiatry doctor and research in environment and human health, this talk explores how gardens, courtyards, and grounds function as a largely forgotten part of the therapeutic infrastructure. It examines the tension between risk-averse design and therapeutic potential, contrasts staff intentions with patient experience, and aims to reframe landscape as an integral component of psychiatric care rather than an optional amenity.

Co-production and service user involvement are embedded in Pineapple’s approach to delivering projects in challenging environments. A structured, multi-disciplinary model ensures that the voices of service users and stakeholders sit alongside technical, operational, and strategic expertise. This framework enables the delivery of solutions that are safe, effective, and human-centred while maintaining compliance, efficiency, and sustainability.

Our engineering teams assess technical feasibility and performance, while compliance specialists ensure all solutions meet regulatory and safety standards. Customer insights and marketing teams provide data on user behaviour, preferences, and feedback from previous projects to inform usability, comfort, and intuitive product interaction. Clients and service users contribute through observational sessions, offering insights into safety, accessibility, and comfort to validate designs adjustments, improving user experience and supporting positive outcomes.

Engagement with wider industry networks, such as the Lighting Industry Association (LIA) and initiatives like Recolight, ensures emerging standards, research and best practice are reflected in every project.

Prototypes, mock-ups, and pilot installations allow teams to test ideas before full delivery. Post-occupancy evaluations and user feedback create a continuous learning loop that informs future developments.

Designing for longevity, modularity, and end-of-life recovery ensures solutions are durable, repairable, and environmentally responsible.

By embedding co-production as standard practice, Pineapple delivers solutions that balance safety, performance, and human-centred design with environmental responsibility, ensuring all projects are informed by evolving best practice, clinical guidance and real-world experience.

The refurbishment of the Children’s Outpatients Department at King’s College Hospital reimagines a busy, overstimulating clinical environment as one that actively supports inclusion and reduces anxiety for children, parents, siblings and staff. Funded by King’s Charity, the project covers the third floor of the Hambleden Wing and focuses on four key areas: the main and sub-waiting zones, treatment corridor and a new phlebotomy suite.
From the outset, collaboration and co-production were used to understand how anxiety, exclusion and sensory overload shaped everyday experiences within the department. Weekly workshops and engagement meetings, including regular site visits, were held with clinical, estates and charity teams, alongside parent-and-child shadowing exercises. These activities revealed how families experienced the space day to day. Parents and siblings described the cumulative stress caused by confusing signage, overcrowded waiting areas, limited seating choice and environments that did not adequately support neurodiverse needs, wheelchairs or buggies. Prolonged waiting, lack of clear focus for play and limited opportunities for privacy were consistently linked to heightened anxiety. Staff highlighted how these conditions also affected their ability to support patients sensitively and efficiently.
These insights informed a design approach rooted in emotional safety, inclusion and choice. The new layout creates a clearer, more legible sequence of spaces that reduces uncertainty and supports independent navigation. A centralised play area replaced scattered toys, providing a predictable, well-supervised focal point that reassures children and siblings while reducing visual clutter. Bespoke bench and island seating offer flexible, inclusive options for families, wheelchair users and carers, enabling people to choose where and how they wait. A calm, cohesive colour palette, improved lighting and acoustic considerations help minimise sensory overload.
An underused youth room was transformed into a dedicated phlebotomy suite, designed as a quieter, more private environment that acknowledges the anxiety associated with procedures and supports children and parents during moments of heightened stress.
Rather than a one-off consultation, engagement evolved into a continuous dialogue, with feedback from weekly sessions regularly reviewed and embedded into design decisions. This co-produced approach fostered trust and shared ownership, demonstrating how evidence-based, inclusive design can meaningfully reduce anxiety and create outpatient environments that are calmer, more dignified and supportive for all users.

This session explores how sensory-informed principles influenced product and finish selection throughout The Brook at Langdon Hospital. Using real project examples, the presentation will demonstrate how thoughtful consideration of light, colour, materials, acoustics and detailing helped create a calmer, more therapeutic environment whilst balancing safety, durability and clinical requirements.

The session will reflect on the importance of collaboration, early decision-making and challenging default specifications to create spaces that feel less institutional and more supportive for service users, staff and families. Practical examples will show how small design decisions can have a significant impact on how environments feel and function in practice.

Rethink Mental Illness is undertaking a programme of work to understand the systemic challenges in the supply and management of quality supported housing for people with long-term mental illness, and to work across three local mental health supported housing systems to address these challenges, pilot solutions and improve long-term outcomes for people with mental illness needing supported housing. We are currently facilitating the close involvement of national and local stakeholders, including experts by experience, in co-producing the design, development and implementation of housing solutions which address these challenges.

In mental health environments, every design choice has a profound impact on safety, dignity, and recovery. Selecting the correct product for the patient’s needs is not simply a procurement decision—it’s a vital part of creating therapeutic spaces that protect lives while promoting wellbeing.

At Anti-Ligature Shop, we recognise that one size never fits all. Each inpatient unit has its own unique blend of clinical, environmental, and human factors. The right anti-ligature solution must reflect this complexity—balancing robust safety features with comfort, aesthetics, and functionality. When products are chosen carefully and collaboratively, they not only reduce risk but also help to foster trust and independence for service users.

An inappropriate product, however well-intentioned, can have serious consequences: compromising safety, triggering anxiety, or impeding care delivery. That’s why understanding the clinical context, patient profile, and staff requirements is essential. Working closely with estates teams, clinicians, and designers ensures that the chosen product supports both operational efficiency and therapeutic outcomes.

Innovation in this sector continues to evolve—whether through load-release technology, tamper-proof fixtures, or softer, more residential finishes that reduce the institutional feel of clinical settings. But innovation alone isn’t enough; the product must be appropriate for the specific environment and the people within it.

Ultimately, selecting the right anti-ligature product is about aligning safety with humanity. It’s about designing spaces that keep people secure without compromising their right to privacy, comfort, and hope. At Anti-Ligature Shop, we see our role as partners in that mission—helping every decision-maker ensure that design genuinely supports recovery, not just risk reduction.

The presentation will cover many products based on giving a more homely feel, whilst keeping safety and robustness at the forefront. It will look at all spaces and best solution for giving a softer feel whilst maintaining best practice. Bathrooms, Bedrooms and communal spaces can look more like the home if we think more about getting the most practicable product selected.

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust is delivering an ambitious Green Plan to achieve Net Zero while enhancing patient environments. This presentation will showcase a range of decarbonisation projects, including solar PV and battery storage, heat pumps, EV charging infrastructure, and estate-wide LED upgrades. It will also explore initiatives to reduce waste and eliminate single-use plastics. Alongside technical solutions, the Trust is embedding a culture of sustainability through its Green Champions programme, engaging staff across services. Attendees will gain insight into practical approaches, challenges, and lessons learned in integrating sustainability into mental health estate design and operations.

This presentation shares learning from a pilot project using Ambivalent Voice Technology (AVT) within an adult autism assessment service. The work has prompted ongoing reflection on how clinical environments influence both the reliability of AVT and the overall service‑user experience. I will discuss the benefits we have observed, alongside potential unintended consequences that emerged during implementation. As AVT and similar tools rapidly evolve, understanding their impact—positive and negative—is essential for designing safe, inclusive and responsive mental‑health services. The session aims to open a conversation with others exploring digital innovation, encouraging shared reflection to strengthen future practice.

The session would look at secure mental health ambulance transport as an extension of the care environment, rather than a purely logistical function. For people in acute distress, the journey between settings can be one of the highest-risk points in their pathway. Waiting areas, exits, handover points, ambulance loading, vehicle design, route planning and arrival arrangements can all influence whether a transfer remains calm, dignified and safe, or escalates into crisis.

Discussing the successful delivery of a new perinatal mother and baby inpatient unit, highlighting how co‑production, experts by experience and person‑centred design were central to achieving a safe, appropriate and effective therapeutic environment. How design of Perinatal spaces necessitates a balanced approach to risk and the importance of placemaking. Key focus on the benefits of adapting/repurposing an underutilised asset within an active health campus and reflecting on the delivery challenges of operational constraints on a busy clinical site.

Immersive technologies are transforming mental health care by creating safe, controlled environments for assessment and treatment. Examples include: exposure therapy for anxiety, phobias, and PTSD, allowing patients to confront triggers gradually and safely; mindfulness and stress reduction; and psychoeducation through interactive, engaging experiences. Clinicians can personalize interventions using real-time data and track progress more accurately. As access improves, immersive technology has the potential to expand mental health services, utilising restricted physical space environments, and to deliver scalable, effective support alongside traditional clinical settings.

This presentation reports on a doctoral study presenting emerging findings on the role of sensory interventions in adult mental health. Sensory interventions draw on the understanding that sensory processing influences arousal, regulation, and participation, and are increasingly valued for supporting recovery, reducing distress, and promoting meaningful engagement. Yet, despite their growing use, there are significant gaps in evidence about what works, for whom, and how these approaches can be effectively implemented.

This qualitative study explores the perspectives of expert occupational therapists and sensory practitioners across diverse international contexts. The aims are to examine: (1) how sensory interventions are understood, adopted, and applied in practice; (2) the key factors that influence implementation; and (3) future recommendations for professional practice.

Following ethical approval in 2025, interviews commenced with participants representing 10 countries and a wide range of clinical, educational, and policy roles. This presentation will provide a synthesis of perspectives, highlighting convergences and divergences. Emerging themes include occupational therapy identity, theoretical uncertainty, environment as a key lever, practice challenges linked to evidence and resources, and outcomes related to participation and recovery. Participants also proposed future directions for training, policy, and service development.

This session examines how AI can support estates teams to capture, access and share guidance, evidence and local learning more effectively. It highlights the limits of general AI, the value of domain-specific tools, and practical ways to build safe, human-in-the-loop workflows for compliance and operational decisions. It also addresses the impact of “brain drain” in the NHS, where the loss of experienced staff leads to gaps in operational knowledge, decision context, and trusted working relationships.

Children and adolescents requiring psychiatric intensive care represent one of the most complex and least understood groups within mental health services. Despite increasing clinical demand and acuity, there remains no comprehensive national picture of how these services are structured, designed, or experienced.

This presentation briefly introduces the National Association of Psychiatric Intensive Care Units (NAPICU) and its role in advancing standards and knowledge across intensive mental health settings. It then presents the “Landscape Study,” a collaborative research project with the University of Salford, aimed at systematically mapping children and adolescent psychiatric intensive care provision across the UK.

The session will outline the study’s design, methodology, and the development of a national questionnaire, with a focus on how service design, environment, and care models intersect. Attendees will gain early insight into an emerging evidence base intended to inform future service development, policy, and design innovation in this critically important area.

This session will present the co-development journey of a ground-breaking non-visual patient safety aid designed specifically for use in psychiatric intensive care and other mental health settings and secure children care settings. Developed through close collaboration with NHS mental health trusts, clinical teams, service users, and industry partners, this solution addresses a critical unmet need: enhancing patient safety in low-stimulation environments where visual alerts may be unsuitable or inaccessible.
The project was guided from inception to implementation by the NHS Digital Health Technologies Assessment Criteria (DTAC), ensuring clinical efficacy, patient-centred design, interoperability, data protection, and rigorous evidence standards.
Attendees will gain insight into how these criteria were operationalised throughout the project—from early-stage needs assessment and stakeholder engagement through to prototyping, pilot deployment, and real-world evaluation.
The session will explore:
● The unique challenges of designing safety solutions in Secure Children’s Settings & mental health wards.

● How inclusive design and co-production methodologies led to a practical, human-centred innovation.

● Lessons learned from working across institutional boundaries to align safety, usability, and digital compliance.

● Early feedback and impact data from pilot sites.

This presentation will be valuable for clinical leaders, quality and safety specialists, digital health innovators, and policymakers interested in practical, scalable models of digital co-development in complex care settings.

Dean and Lucy will discuss how patient safety incidents can be linked to building/environment design: sensory triggers (noise, smells), poor ventilation, lack of fresh air and inaccessible facilities can all escalate distress and risk. The conference attendees will be asked whether they recognise these links to building design, and invited to share ideas: where do design decisions have the greatest impact on patient safety? Where is more attention needed? Patient Safety Partners may be able support with defining what 'good' design is to enhance patient safety — moving beyond containment toward compassionate, therapeutic definitions of safety, and centring lived experience in design decisions.

This presentation explores the impact of acoustic conditions on comfort in school dining halls, with a focus on inclusive design for children with sensory needs. While classroom acoustics is well-researched, dining halls are under researched, despite their importance as social and multi-use learning spaces and the importance of good acoustic design for inclusion, emotional regulation and psychological safety.

The study involved acoustic measurements and surveys across five schools, engaging over 300 students and over 9,500 teachers via an online survey. Students reported on perceived loudness, annoyance, conversational ease, and emotional responses. Results showed a strong correlation between shorter reverberation times and more positive experiences, including less annoyance due to noise, and increased ability to enjoy their lunch.

The research also explored the impact of acoustic capacity as well as controlling low frequency reverberation time. Based on student feedback, the study recommends revising BB93 standards to a lower reverberation time range of 0.5–0.8 seconds for dining halls (depending on room volume), to better support inclusive listening environments and improve outcomes for children with sensory needs. The criteria are achievable in practice with good acoustic design.

This research demonstrates the value of co-production in acoustic design and advocates for evidence-based standards that reflect the lived experience of students. It contributes to the growing conversation around designing educational spaces that promote wellbeing, inclusion, psychological safety and equitable access to communication.

Prisons are living environments which accommodate people with high levels of vulnerability, trauma and mental ill-health - yet they lack the design standards found in healthcare settings. This session shares learning from Fatal Accident Inquiries into deaths in custody and how they will shape a wellbeing‑led approach to safer prison environments. We will explore the challenge of reducing suicide risk while preserving dignity, autonomy and connection in spaces that people live in for months or years. Drawing on multidisciplinary design work, pilot activity and lived experience, this session invites collaboration to help define what safe, humane and realistic prison design could look like.