What are some of the key design considerations for the North West Women’s Prevention and Recovery Care centre?
The key driver was to create a sense of safety and privacy, without a sense of enclosure. Several fully and partially enclosed courtyards are centrally located within the building, with communal spaces and circulation looking onto these areas.
There are a good range of internal and external communal spaces so that the women using the facility – some of which have young children – can choose the space that’s appropriate for them, at that time. These include sitting nooks, several lounge spaces to choose from, a dedicated children’s garden, a generous deck and outdoor sitting area, and a veggie garden.
How do the different design elements promote wellbeing?
In both projects there are strong visual connections across all courtyards and throughout communal spaces and circulation areas. The planning flows from one space to the next, so that spaces are loosely appreciable from all other areas. This encourages social interaction by allowing staged entry from private to communal spaces.
Each facility has strong physical and visual connections to outdoor spaces, promoting easy use of these spaces for therapy, play, dining, gardening and quiet relaxation. Abundant daylight is provided in all spaces and all materials are selected for their warmth and minimal impact on health and the environment.
How does Bamford-Architects typically go about designing these facilities?
We relish the project briefing / co-design process. We try to make this as collaborative as possible and design in real-time wherever possible. We learn so much from the stories and insights of staff and lived experience representatives.
It’s one of the areas of our work that gives us the greatest joy – engaging with people who because of their life experience have enormous value to add. They quickly bring into focus what works and where thinking has become tired. At its best, this is an empowering process for all concerned and absolutely delivers the best built result.
What design input has Bamford-Architects provided on these projects that make you most proud?
PARCs come with quite a technical brief; we love the challenge of working out how to detail the spaces, fixtures and fittings that come with the brief, to provide generous and warm environments, that don’t read as institutional or clinical, while meeting requisite safety, operational, servicing, and of course budgetary constraints. With each project we learn how to do this a little better. It makes us proud that what we learn along the way informs the next project – getting ever-better results.
How has design been used to create a homelike environment across both facilities?
For us, the term ‘home-like’ is just a starting off point; we extend this description to something that’s familiar and legible, but also connected, comfortable, and a bit special. We aim to create spaces that are beautiful and generous and nurturing, for those who care, are cared for and visit our buildings.
Kitchens are warm and domestic looking but are located and planned so that they’re central, visible, accessible and comfortable for multiple users. Kitchen and living spaces are all very generous in volume – more so than most homes – so that they are comfortable for multiple residents who may have heightened sensitivity to people around them.
Bedrooms are required to meet a similar safety level as an acute mental health facility. Acute facilities can read as industrial design objects. We actively resist treatments that could be reminiscent of an acute bedroom. We heard loud and clear from lived experience representative that’s the very last thing they want a PARC to feel like.
How has the team used co-design to aid the design process of PARC centres and how has it benefitted the wellbeing aspect?
The co-design process leads the design process. We try to make this as collaborative as possible and design together in real-time wherever possible. We routinely come to design conclusions that we wouldn’t have considered without the co-design process and certainly not without the frank insights from lived experience representatives.
Wellbeing is promoted by having the voices of those who will use the building embedded in the design. It makes the design – all about promoting wellbeing – a better solution. Which is a win for all involved.
