Insight
Designing for vulnerable people
archipelago
Case study - New secured psychiatric hospital for the ‘Centre Régional Psychiatrique Les Marronniers’
A breath of fresh air – the positive impact of landscape design in mental healthcare architecture
The ‘Centre Régional Pyschiatrique Les Marronniers’ is a psychiatric centre that offers care for patients of all ages with mental health problems. The Forensic Psychiatric Hospital (FPH), designed by archipelago, is a secure part of the ‘CRP Les Marronniers’ focusing on medico-legal care. Suitable for rehabilitation, it promotes independence while respecting patients’ privacy. The psychiatric centre is located at the edge of the city of Tournai and acts as a buffer between active urban life and the backdrop landscape. Patients thus live in a calm environment while also maintaining a direct connection with their social network, an essential aspect for the rehabilitation process.
New secured psychiatric hospital for the ‘Centre Régional Psychiatrique Les Marronniers’
Description
secured mental healthcare facility with collective gardens and park
Responsible
Lorenzo Alfieri
Partners
AADD
-Ingenium
-Lemaire Ingénieurs
-Cenergie
-ATS
-Pigeon Ochej Paysage
Location
Tournai, Belgium
Client
Centre Régional Psychiatrique Les Marronniers
Area
28.000 m²
Topography of the site
The benefits of outdoor space for mental health are increasingly being acknowledged. However, in the context of forensic psychiatry, security requirements restrict the patients’ movements. For the secured part of ‘CRP Les Marronniers’, we have therefore developed a specific design approach where the relation between landscape and architecture, access to nature, and activity-based programming are key parameters.
The landscape design for the entire site is integrated in the architectural concept and results in a smart use of site’s topography. Consequently, the seclusion of the institute is blurred by the placement of large views of the surroundings. The outdoor spaces range from sloping gardens to patios and terraces, each carefully designed for different security requirements. At the entrance of Les Marronniers, a linking new public square underlines the institute’s connection with the city, always in support of it and the common goal towards rehabilitation process.
Interactive walkways
Walkways encourage social interaction and patients’ autonomy. Following a precise activity-based design approach, the dynamics of the therapeutic process are physically reflected, from the upper-level care units with access to indoor common spaces and enclosed patios, to the ground-level units with access to the gardens and park.
The overall aim of the design is to provide, within the constraints of a secured perimeter, a free-flowing movement through a diverse set of seamlessly connected places. Offering patients to relax and reflect quietly, all according to their own therapeutic process.
At ‘CRP Les Marronniers’, mental care is supported through the patient’s environment, both in the new facility and the large surrounding park.
A variety of outdoor spaces
In close collaboration with the caregivers at ‘CRP Les Marronniers’, we have refined the program for the outdoor spaces to optimally support the healing process. A participatory approach to programming has enabled the proposed spaces to be compared with the reality on the ground. We presented the competition project to all the staff, and the successive working groups and workshops enabled us to identify their needs through practical examples.
This results in varied outdoorspaces, offering patients a chance to reconnect to the outside world at their own pace. They are organized according to different activities and security requirements and include amongst others: open garden, allotment gardens, patios, lunch areas, multi-sport fields, outdoor therapy directly connected to occupational therapy rooms.
In this way, we aim for architecture with a positive impact on both its environment and the wellbeing of its users. For the sustainable future of mental health facilities, we therefore look at a holistic design approach, integrating landscape and activity-based programming to support therapeutic process with the aim of rehabilitating patients into society.
Gallery of images
