New prototype for living
RPP Architects with Richard Murphy Architects for Belfast Health & Social Care Trust
Budget: £4.32 million
GIA: 2450m2
This new community primary health care centre, for people with mental health issues, brings together provision in an innovative way by including consultant-led clinics, individual and group therapy provision, short-stay sub-acute admissions and admin offices. It aims to do this in an inviting, open, naturally lit, landscaped environment that promotes a sense of calm and wellbeing.
The building’s mass is not evident form the street, reading from the roads as contemporary red brick structures sitting within a garden. Its size is only evident on entering, where the expansive rear elevation is largely glazed, facing out over a beautifully landscaped inner courtyard garden and letting light pour into its reception and waiting areas.
Public areas are well-designed, offering openness yet privacy where required. Treatment and therapy rooms are light and airy and generally look out on smaller landscaped courtyards, with security features kept unobtrusive. Care and attention to materials and detailing has been lavished throughout a building that respects not only its vulnerable users, but the landscape in which it sits.
See other winners in the RIBA Regional Awards 2015 – Northern Ireland