1.

MENTAL HEALTHCARE FACILITY – ARCHITECTURE FOR

PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENT

1. ABSTRACT:

This thesis looks at how architecture and design can influence psychiatric treatment. It is
evident that architecture has a great influence on people, and that people influence architecture
as well. The interaction between planned architecture, built space and the people who use them
is what I find to be really interesting. This relationship is of great importance, especially in the
field of psychiatry. A mentally disturbed person perceives his environment differently than a
so-called healthy person. If the space that surrounds us can affect our perception, our sense of
well-being, and our mood, what is then the ideal environment for a mentally ill person? So this
thesis is an effort to understand the relationship between architecture and mental health and
thereby provide a design that not only heals the mentally ill but also bridges the gap between
them and the society.

2. INTRODUCTION:

We all have some idea of what an asylum or psychiatric facility would be, and we hold that as
the treatment of the insane is conducted not only in, but by the facility itself, so no architect is
competent to plan the building unless he possesses some knowledge of the treatment of
inmates. Therefore it is important to obtain the necessary theoretical knowledge on mental
illness, psychiatry and the medical practices followed today, so that it will enable us to look
closely at the case-studies and to form a well-founded opinion of them. It is necessary to have
a proper understanding of the definition of mental disorder, on who can become mentally ill,
on the handling of mental illness and the problem of stigmatization, and most importantly the
patient- the user, for whom the facility is being designed. With these pre-requisite knowledge
on mental illness and psychiatry, the next step is to understand the relationship between
architecture and psychiatry in order to show a positive image of psychiatry through
architecture. Understanding of healing environments, use of architecture for psychiatric
treatments, providing flexibility and promoting choices/patient’s sense of competence because
it is the patients who will use and define the space in the end.
3. NEED:

According to an estimate by the World Health Organization (WHO), mental illness makes
about 15% of the total disease conditions around the world. The same estimate also suggests
that India has one of the largest populations affected from mental illness. As a result, WHO has
labelled India as the world’s ‘most depressing country’. Moreover, between 1990 to 2017, one
in seven people from India have suffered from mental illness ranging from depression, anxiety
to severe conditions such as schizophrenia, according to a study. The first and foremost reason
for India to lose its mental health is the lack of awareness and sensitivity about the issue. There
is a big stigma around people suffering from any kind of mental health issues. They are often
tagged as ‘lunatics’ by the society. This leads to a vicious cycle of shame, suffering and
isolation of the patients. Also, there is a serious shortage of mental healthcare workforce in
India. According to WHO, in 2011, there were 0·301 psychiatrists and 0·047 psychologists for
every 100,000 patients suffering from a mental health disorder in India.

4. AIM:

The aim of this thesis is to find out the specific needs that the mentally ill require from their
architectural environment. In difficult times patients are particularly sensitive to their
environment, which can contribute to their well-being.

5. OBJECTIVES:

The thesis will seek to achieve the following objectives:

 To explore how the history of mental health establishments has influenced the design
of modern psychiatric facilities.
 To review the architecture of modern psychiatric facilities in order to assess how these
designs facilitate healing and establish a healing environment.
 To assess the effect therapeutic innovations in the design of psychiatric facilities have
on the mental health of individuals undergoing treatment for mental health problems.
 Use of multi-sensory experience (the use of light and shadows, acoustics, tactile
materials and so forth).
 Since a strong stigmatization of against the mentally ill still exists, it is necessary to
find out whether architecture can contribute to the fight against prejudice and stigma
through this thesis.
6. METHODOLOGY:

6.1. RESEARCH FOCUS:

The research process will start by looking into specialized documentation on mental illness
and psychiatric treatments and facilities of the past and present.

Similar projects will be looked into to find both successful and failing features in order to
find out better possible solution for the design process.

Researching guidelines for healthcare architecture which deals with mental health will be
done in order to come up with a toolbox for further design.

After analysing the chosen site and resulting characteristics, the design of the facility will
take a more cohesive shape, being based on the conclusions drawn from the research.

6.2. TENTATIVE REQUIREMENTS:

6.2.1. DESIGN RECOMMENDATIONS

 Flexibility
 Efficiency
 Patient Needs
 Risk Reduction

6.2.2. PLANNING AND DESIGN CRITERIA

 Inpatient Mental Health Units

- Inpatient Entrance/Reception
- Patient Room
- Patient Bathroom
- Patient Activity Areas
- Nursing Station Design and Operations
- Outdoor Courtyards
- Accommodations for Women Veterans and Other Patient Subgroups
 Mental Health Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program (MHRRTP) Facility
- Independent living
- Institutional occupancy
- Resident amenities
 - Facility security/control
- Resident safety/security
- Resident Room
- Multiple Occupancy Living Unit
- Resident Activity Areas
- Outdoor Activity Spaces
 Outpatient Services
- Mental Health Clinic
- Substance Abuse Clinic
- Psychosocial Rehabilitation Recovery Center (PRRC)
- Psychology Services
- Primary Care-Mental Health Integration Services

7. CASE STUDIES:

1. Centre de psychiatrie du Nord Vaudois (CPNVD) - Psychiatric hospital in Yverdon-les-

Bains, Switzerland

2. Clinical La Metairie - Psychiatric hospital in Nyon, Switzerland

3. Adamant Hospital – Paris

8. SITE OPTIONS:

1. Site Location: Karungalpatty Main

Road, Salem, TN-636006.
Justification:
Proposed site for 1 out of 6 hospitals.
In the periphery of Trichy main road
(NH47).
School - 600m
Town Railway station – 2 km
Salem Railway station – 5 km
Bus Stand – 3.3 km
Bus Stop – 200m
2. Site Location: (Anna Hospital) 1st
Cross Street, Vidhya Nagar,
Ammapet, Salem, TN-636006.
Justification:
Proposed site for 1 out of 6 hospitals.
In the periphery of Ammapet main
Road (NH68).
Sai College – 350 m.
Town Railway station – 480 m.
Salem Railway station – 7 km.
Bus stand – 4.27 km.
Bus stop – 400 m.
 SCHOOL OF ART, DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

1. ABSTRACT:

This thesis project looks at how an educational campus can house self-motivated, talented
individuals who are highly aware of the inconsistencies of the world they live in. The
curriculum is built on a broad based liberal arts foundation. It has an interdisciplinary approach
which helps promote self-initiated learning and independent thinking, while expanding
perceptual perspectives and developing artistic vocabularies. The school is different from a
conventional institute. It is a permanent centre that is ever evolving in its functions as the
creative quotient grows within it. It embodies the spirit of informed minds who choose to apply
their sensitivities and skills to bring about intrinsic change in the world around them.

2. INTRODUCTION:

Educational institutions are indicators of the direction in which a culture intends to be headed
in. Built in anticipation of market trends, they represent the value that a community attaches to
learning. Education, as a process, can be effective only if it constantly evolves with the society
and mirrors its aspirations. This fact is of vital significance in India, which is fast catching up
with the world as technological advancement is revolutionizing the content and process of its
education. The challenge for educational facilities is to keep up with this evolution.

In an inter-connected and multi-ethnic environment like that of India, the challenge extends
beyond technological integration/up gradation of the education system into addressing the
innate contradictions that arise within it.

It is a setup which encourages a culture of thinking, questioning and intellectual potential of

each individual. Not only to counter sterile, over simplified courses, but also encourage hands
on work by providing a course so involving that it is in direct contrast to the distant mode of
learning. The school houses various departments that are very contemporary and overlap each
other.

3. NEED:

 Foreseen demand in the future for similar setups.

 Lack of precedents for campuses with similar alternate approach to education.
 Studying a building typology while it is in its transformation.
4. AIM:

To develop sensitivity towards campus planning for tangential educational strategies while
incorporating concepts of interactivity within it.

5. OBJECTIVES:

 Understanding the ideology of the school and translating it into the built form.
 Studying site and climate responsive design methods to find context specific solutions.
 Focus on aspects of site planning.
 Integration infrastructure with the building program.
 Integration technology with the building program.
 Evolving an architectural vocabulary with form, materials, shape, and scale of the
project.
 Addressing issues of familiarity, identity and place making in the design.

6. METHODOLOGY:

6.1. RESEARCH FOCUS:

 Data collection through end users and by talking to clients and thereby reinforce
validity.
 Determine the context through the research and data collection.
 Find prototypes through literature study.
 Understand site and climate responsive strategies and understand interactivity through
case studies.
 Site Analysis – Climate study and space conditioning.
 Design concept.

6.2. TENTATIVE REQUIREMENTS:

6.2.1. DEPARTMENTS

- Culture and Humanities

- Visual Communication
- Textile and Craft Foundation
- Independent Media
 - Interactivity
- Animation Gaming
- Wellness
- Arts Centre
- Innovation Centre

6.2.2. COURSES

- Visual communication and Design

- Digital video production
- Furniture and Interior design
- Textiles design
- Product design
- Animation and visual effects
- Experimental media arts
- Design in education

7. CASE STUDIES:

1. Nanyang School of Art, Design and Media – Singapore.

2. NIFT College of Arts – New Delhi.

3. EWHA Campus Centre – Seoul, Korea.

8. SITE OPTION:

1. Ernakulam, Kerala.
 MIXED USE DEVELOPMENT

1. ABSTRACT:

One of the Urban Design Principles which cuts across many urban areas around the globe is
the principle of mixed- use development. Mixed-use development is the practice of allowing
more than one type of use in a building or set of buildings. In planning terms, this can mean
some combination of residential, commercial, industrial, office, institutional or other land uses.
This tends to create shorter distance between work, residence and recreation and goes a long
way to enhance the livelihood of the inhabitants.

2. INTRODUCTION:

The modern city is a complex organism. It is a great human enterprise serving the material
and spiritual needs of man. It is a segment of land on which the people have selected their
places to live and to work, to learn and to trade, to play and to pray. It is a mosaic of homes
and shops, factories and offices, schools and libraries, theatres and hospitals, parks and
playgrounds, meeting places and government centres, fire stations and post offices. These are
woven together by a net-work of streets and transportation routes, water, sanitation and
communication channels. Therefore the city, its design and form needs to be continually
modified to adapt to the continuous change in its inhabitants and use. Urban restructuring and
planning is a term used to describe this continuous modification and design of the city and its
form. This trend can be seen the world over as cities such as Tokyo, London and New York
are continually changing to accommodate their growing urban population in order to enhance
the well-being of its inhabitants through carefully crafted urban planning and design.

3. NEED:

 Greater housing variety and density, more affordable housing (smaller units), life-
cycle housing (starter homes to larger homes to senior housing).
 Reduced distances between housing, workplaces, retail businesses, and other
amenities and destinations.
 Better access to fresh, healthy foods (as food retail and farmers markets can be
accessed on foot/bike or by transit).
 More compact development, land-use synergy (e.g. residents provide customers for
retail which provide amenities for residents).
  Stronger neighbourhood character, sense of place.
 Walkable, bike-able neighbourhoods, increased accessibility via transit, both resulting
in reduced transportation costs.

4. AIM:

To design a mixed-use complex which will help rejuvenate the area and act as the centre of
community life for the city and region.

5. OBJECTIVES:

 To create a mix of uses that relate to and complement each other through site design,
for example, through shared use of public spaces and landscape connections.

 To create a mix of uses that respond to their context and complement each other in
their building design and street orientation.

 To facilitate linkages among uses on and off site through use of pedestrian, bicycle
and circulation connections, shared access and parking.

 To utilize the city’s residential design guidelines for residential mixed use projects.

6. METHODOLOGY:

Mixed use developments vary in variety and scale. In terms of scale, they range from mixed
use spaces, mixed-use buildings and mixed-use developments. They vary from the seamstress
who uses her living room as her workspace (mixed use spaces) to the shopkeeper who lives on
the first floor and operates a shop on the ground floor (mixed use buildings) right through to
huge mixed use developments covering several acres of land. Also in terms of variety, they
range from the transit oriented development (TOD) right through to the satellite towns. Hence
the research was conducted from facilities of various scales and typology in order to come up
with a comprehensive and adaptable conclusion.

The research focus is as mentioned below:

 To determine the factors that lead to the creation of the various mixed-use development
 To determine the various factors affecting peoples decision as to where to live, work,
play and learn
  To study certain planned mixed-use development and their effects on its residents and
the urban environment as a whole.
 To determine whether the deliberate creation of several types of mixed-use
development will help alleviate some of the sites urban problems such as traffic
congestion etc.

7. CASE STUDIES:

1. The Greenwich Millennium Village, London. United Kingdom

2. Rapallo, Coconut Point, Estero, Florida, U.S.A
3. Magarpatta City, Pune, India

8. SITE OPTION:

1. Vikhroli, Mumbai.