Anne DiNardo

Behavioral health centers have come a long way from the days when security and durability governed their design. A lot of those changes come from better design principles in general, such as improved access to natural light, amenities that empower and stimulate patients, and facilities that promote independence and healing. “Everything that we’ve learned about how design can influence physical health, we need to be applying to mental health, because in the end, it has the same effect,” says Don Thomas, a principal at St.

University of Minnesota Amplatz Children’s Hospital opened the doors to a relocated and renovated behavioral health unit in Minneapolis, in November 2012. The design team at BWBR worked with the staff at Amplatz to create a space that better aligned with the newly constructed main hospital.

In a recent article in The New York Times by Benedict Carey, “Expert on Mental Illness Reveals Her Own Fight,”  Dr. Marsha M. Linehan of the University of Washington, talks about the first time she was admitted to the Institute of Living, in 1961, at the age of 17. The article describes how the suicidal teenager was put in the seclusion room, “a small cell with a bed, a chair and a tiny, barred window. Yet her urge to die only deepened.”

Anyone who’s been through the construction process has heard the words “moisture mitigation.” While it’s not new, concern over the issue has grown over the last 10 years.

One reason is condensed construction timelines, which mean most projects are fast-tracked, leaving less time for concrete slabs to dry. This leaves slab moisture levels (relative humidity or RH levels) at unsuitable levels for flooring installations to perform. However, these levels must be met in order to maintain a manufacturer’s warranty.

As hospitals, ambulatory care centers, and specialty clinics continue to transition to more hospitality-like settings, the flooring specified for those facilities is going in a new direction, too. Issues about cost, infection control, and maintenance are still top-of-mind, but joining the discussion is an emphasis on aesthetics, comfort, and the role of flooring in wayfinding.

As a landmark for a new community, the Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel campus is the latest addition in the provider’s Tampa Bay division. Partnering with HuntonBrady Architects (Orlando), the staff and design team created design directives for the $81 million project, such as recognize the location, enhance time optimization, and provide a fresh approach to architecture.

The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) of Medical Research is Australia’s oldest medical research facility. The institute’s location in Melbourne, Australia, is among the world’s most concentrated medical science precincts and includes the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Commonwealth Serium Laboratories, and Royal Children’s Hospital. Also nearby are The University of Melbourne and Monash University’s Facility of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

The scope

It’s estimated that more than one billion people will take part in this week’s annual Earth Day celebration. Launched in 1970 and celebrated every year on April 22, a lot has changed in Earth Day’s four-plus decades of influence. Individually, we’ll seek out products that are sustainable or green, we don’t think twice about placing pop cans and old newspapers into a green bin, and biking or commuting to work is not such a far-out idea (especially considering the ever-rising cost of gas).

Jean Hansen is on a mission to green healthcare interiors. “Years ago, I started realizing that the products we specify have chemicals of concern in them that could affect our health,” she says. “I began asking manufacturers what goes into their products and then looking for safer products.”

Oftentimes interior designers, architects, and facility owners don’t fully understand the expertise and creativity that the field of environmental graphic design (EGD), an intersection of communication design and the built environment, can bring to a project.

In this series, Healthcare Design magazine asks leading healthcare design professionals, firms, and owners to tell us what’s got their attention and share some ideas on the subject.