DESIGN FOR BEHAVIORAL HEALTH

On the cover | Avera Behavioral Health Center

DIGNIFIED. SAFE. HEALING.

To change the way people see mental health, we have to change the way they see the spaces for mental health treatment.

While we understand more than ever the connection between healing spaces and a patient’s recovery, applying that knowledge to environments for patients suffering from mental illness is still emerging. BWBR has utilized that knowledge framework for 10 years and continues to be on the leading edge of behavioral facility design.

Through strong partnerships and decades of experience in health and wellness, we’re cre-ating spaces that are redefining mental health care. Acute care. Pediatrics. Adolescent. Geriatrics. Secured populations. Elements that have been applied for many years to improve treatment for patients with physical ailments are now improving the way organizations deliver care for mental illness.

BWBR‘s team of professionals is passionate about more than design — we are passionate about the work our clients do. Our comprehensive staff of architects, interior designers, medical planners, and construction administrators helps organizations develop environ-ments to promote health and wellness, as well as attract and retain qualified staff. With strong project management and technical excellence, we offer a collaborative culture and design process built around our clients.

Beyond our work, it’s our experience as patients, and as family members of care staff, that gives us insights to develop spaces and facilities that are innovative, dignified, comforting and safe for patients, their families, and care providers.

To break the stigma around mental health, we have to break the model. Designing spaces that improve the way we deliver care, we’re creating healthier communities for all.

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA MASONIC CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL,CHILD AND ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH UNITMinneapolis, Minnesota

This groundbreaking 31,000 s.f. renovation project created new inpatient mental health facilities specifically designed for chil-dren and adolescents. Floors within an existing building adja-cent to the new Masonic Children’s Hospital were transformed into two treatment units, one for child-adolescent behavioral health and another for adolescent chemical dependency. The project also included improvements to a therapeutic pool and creation of a secure outdoor play area.

• Behavioral health care has very unique requirements, most of which are a balance of creating a space that is both extremely safe and welcoming, healing, and friendly. A project driver was to design a forward-looking mental health facility that is more open and inviting to children and their families. This meant including natural light whenever possible, carefully placing color and design details, and developing healing spaces specific to children.

• Beyond the usual facilities and design participants, our workshops also included amazing conversations with patients, their families, and a team assembled from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). These talks truly inspired the design team to look beyond planning issues and to create a distinctive environment.

AVERA MCKENNAN HOSPITAL, AVERA BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CENTERSioux Falls, South Dakota

While most U.S. behavioral health facilities are hidden within medical complexes, Avera McKennan chose to consolidate its mental health services into the first new stand-alone behavioral facility west of the Mississippi River since 1991. The 110-bed, 127,400 s.f. facility integrates inpatient care, outpatient care, and research, providing continuity for patients and their fam-ilies. Planning priorities included confidentiality, safety, and providing care with dignity.

• Inpatient units feature a double-corridor system that creates a non-threatening, secure separation of patients from the public and daily support services, and also eliminates the negative experience of passing through a locked-door system.

• Centrally located nurse stations provide visibility and control without compromising privacy.

• A light court at the main entry offers a positive first impres-sion, reducing the anxiety of entering a behavioral hos-pital and providing space for quiet decompression after outpatient visits.

• It is often toured by health care organizations nationwide as a benchmark facility to emulate as they contemplate their own mental health care centers.

REGIONS HOSPITAL, INPATIENT MENTAL HEALTH CENTERSaint Paul, Minnesota

Regions Hospital made a bold statement to relocate their exist-ing adult inpatient mental health unit to a new 100-bed, 115,000 s.f. freestanding facility. Their desire was to create the next gen-eration of behavioral health care — single patient rooms, large open group rooms, and private areas for counseling and staff. The eight-story tower with a residential feel offers an innovative and flexible floor plan that supports a healthy community atmosphere, enhances patient dignity, and provides a safe environment.

• The exterior design fits in with the existing Regions campus aesthetic while still achieving its own identity.

• The building configuration allows natural light to penetrate deep into core dining and dayroom areas.

• Break-out spaces provide more privacy for patients to meet with family, while still allowing staff to maintain supervision.

• Findings from a five-year post-occupancy study performed on Avera Behavioral Health Center influenced low-cost changes to this facility even as construction was underway. For example, desks in patient rooms were reoriented so the door is visible from the sitting position, as many patients feel uneasy with their back to a door. The floor pattern was also changed to reinforce the transitional zone between sleeping rooms and the dayroom, allowing patients to slowly ease from the safety of their private space into a more social area.

GUNDERSEN LUTHERAN HOSPITAL AND CLINIC,BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CENTERLa Crosse, Wisconsin

BWBR was the design architect in partnership with a Wisconsin firm for this new 55,000 s.f., 34-bed behavioral health hospital that is a sanctuary of hope and compassionate care. It meets a serious community need for a diverse population, with pediatric/adoles-cent, adult, acute adult and geriatric/special care units. The open and light-filled healing environment improves the care setting for people of all ages, offers inpatient care for those in need closer to home, and provides dignity and offers hope for patients.

• Through a charette workshop with the owner, we incorporated ideas of patient-centered care, family-focused environments, and efficient/pleasant working spaces for physicians and staff.

• The design physically connects the new facility to the main campus and creates a welcoming “front door.”

• Patient amenities include numerous private and public waiting areas, a meditation center, exercise rooms, and access to the outdoors.

• One of the drivers for this project was to provide increased capacity for adolescent patients so parents are not forced to send their children far away for treatment.

MINNESOTA SEX OFFENDER PROGRAM-MOOSE LAKEMoose Lake, Minnesota

Complex 1 expands the Moose Lake therapeutic commu-nity for health care patients, while at the same time pro-viding a maximum-security environment for an extremely dangerous population. BWBR planned and designed the initial 150,000 s.f. facility, which added a new high-se-curity freestanding building with 400 beds and support spaces to Minnesota’s primary sex offender treatment facility. A subsequent 120,000 s.f. expansion strengthens the program’s therapeutic mission by providing a variety of functions previously available only in the original build-ing, including facilities for education, vocational work, and outdoor recreation, as well as a new foodservice area. A 30,000 s.f. renovation of the original building expanded and renovated the administration, visitation, and intake areas.

• Designed to bring patients into group spaces while creating a calming and therapeutic setting, achieved through an environment that is open and visible to staff, and uses natural daylight and warm-colored materials and finishes.

• Configuration allows for effective electronic and pas-sive security methods to enhance safety.

Allina Health, Cambridge Medical Center• Mental Health Unit Renovation

Allina Health, Willow Street Center• Extended Stay Psychiatric Hospital

Amery Regional Medical Center• Behavioral Unit Renovation

Avera Health, Avera Marshall Regional Medical Center• Behavioral Unit Design

Avera Health, Avera St. Luke’s• Secure Psychiatric Units Renovation

Broadlawns Medical Center• Programming and Master Plan, including mental

health/behavioral health component

Catholic Health Initiatives, Mercy Medical Center- Des Moines

• Behavioral Medicine Services Relocation

Fairview Health Services, University of Minnesota Health

• Psychiatry Department Offices and Clinics• Psychiatry Department Remodeling• Behavioral Program Relocations• Adolescent Crisis Intervention Unit• Behavioral Emergency Center• North Building Adult Behavioral Services Renovation

Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare, Saint Paul Hospital Campus

• Child and Family Services Department Relocation with consultation spaces for psychologists, social workers, and child life therapeutic recreation specialists

Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, Women’s Recovery Center

• New Residential Treatment Building• Existing Residential Treatment Building Renovation

selected additional mental health care and treatment center projects

Hennepin County Medical Center• Trauma Center Addition and Renovation with

Psychiatric Crisis Intervention Care Area

Mayo Clinic, Baldwin Community Medicine Building• Includes Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic

Mayo Clinic, Department of Psychiatry & Psychology• Departmental Consolidation Master Plan• Multiple Renovations

Meeker Memorial Hospital• Behavioral Unit Expansion

Minnesota Department of Human Services, St. Peter Regional Treatment Center

• Upper Campus North/South Secure Units Addition• Predesign and Implementation of Multi-Phased

Minnesota Security Hospital Expansion/Renovation• Lower Campus Minnesota Sex Offender Program

Consolidation Predesign

North Memorial Health Care/Fairview Health Services, Maple Grove Hospital

• New Hospital with Inpatient Medical Psychiatric Unit

North Memorial Health Care, North Memorial Medical Center

• Inpatient/Outpatient Crisis Intervention Unit Renovation

Rice Memorial Hospital• Inpatient Mental Health Unit and Outpatient Mental

Health Clinic

St. Croixdale Hospital, Psychiatric Institute of America• Low-Security Hospital• Addition• Multiple Renovations

Wayside House• Wayside Residential Treatment Center Design

Hazelden Foundation, Women’s Recovery Center

SAINT PAUL | MADISON

380 St. Peter Street, Suite 600Saint Paul, MN 55102

651.222.3701bwbr.com

02.14