An award winning mental health facility for young people at St Andrew’s Healthcare
Working with St Andrew’s Healthcare, we took into account the needs of the young people who use the service to create a positive and healthy building that delights its occupants.
A modern building that feels like home
FitzRoy House is home to St Andrew’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. The look is light, airy, open, positive and joyful, whilst the materials used create a building that everyone can relate to. FitzRoy House needed to feel homely and welcoming because it provides specialist mental health care for up to 110 young people, some of whom have the most complex mental health needs in the UK.
P+HS Architects spoke to psychiatrists, nursing teams, occupational therapists, and patients of St Andrew’s Healthcare to help inform the design and ensure it was fit for purpose. They asked for a flexible, durable and healthy building with a robust finish that would need little maintenance.
Activ'Air aids patient recovery and concentration
To aid patient wellbeing, the team at St Andrew’s selected solutions incorporating our Activ'Air technology. This technology breaks down formaldehyde, the most common volatile organic compound, to provide cleaner and fresher indoor air. The client also specified wet plaster for its aesthetic qualities, giving them a smooth blank canvas that they could cover with artwork.
The finished building is a delightful space, and so special that it earned gold for the installer, Taylor Hart, at the 2017 FIS Awards. At project peak, Taylor Hart had 80 people on site, including around 20 to 30 plasterers. Russell Vernum of St Andrew’s Healthcare sums up, “We’re very pleased with the end result, and I think even more importantly the patients are too. Everybody’s really proud of FitzRoy House. In terms of the craftsmanship, it’s just phenomenal. Taylor Hart performed really well, and the finish is consistent throughout"
We care about building better.
