Abstract

It created a design board – with design champion Beatrice Fraenkel to lead it. She set a new high standard from the start, first commissioning landscape architects and arts co-ordinators to set the right tone in quality, followed by Medical Architecture – known to be a leading expert in the design of therapeutic mental health facilities.

Standardisation was embedded into the design from the start, so that service specialisms, gender mixes and demographic responses could be implemented throughout the life of the building. Light, air, wide open views, and easy access to a beautiful outdoor space are the key ingredients to Clock View’s success, which has become a much-loved catalyst for community regeneration. Mersey Care’s participation in the 2011 Technology Strategy Board’s Design for Future Climate pilot programme informed the design for long-term sustainability and affordability. Since then, standards have evolved and strengthened, and we now have the NHS Net Zero Carbon Building Standard with which to comply.

Clock View completed in 2014 and has since become an exemplar of mental health design quality. The need for community-based wellbeing centres that are both small-scale yet repeatable remains urgent, and was the driver of NHSE’s Cavell Programme for the proposed renewal of primary care wellbeing hubs. Medical Architecture worked collaboratively with Architype on the largest of six pilot projects to advance this agenda to the next level.

Through Passivhaus accreditation and optimised structural and component standardisation, any facility can be designed to be enduringly flexible, low-energy and highly valued throughout its long life. And let’s not forget where this story started – with the power of good, well-researched design that can help shape a better world.