Context

A range of Rough&Ready seating and Drifter seating and picnic sets from Streetlife have been installed at Sycamore, a new medium-security hospital prioritising patient wellbeing at the heart of the £60m redevelopment of Northgate Park Hospital in Morpeth.

Background

The facility offers a wide variety of welcoming indoor and outdoor settings for relaxation and activity, relieving boredom and addressing the risk of challenging behaviours and poor physical health. These settings are enriched with a high-quality palette of landscape materials, and site furnishings that play an essential role in creating a positive image and reducing the stigma surrounding mental health facilities.

Sycamore offers inpatient accommodation for 72 male patients with a spectrum of forensic mental health needs. Six wards are paired together and arranged around a large recreation courtyard to form a secure boundary without the need for high fences and the imposing feeling they can create. In response to patient needs, the courtyard is divided into ‘Passive’ and ‘Active’ zones. 

Products supplied

Passive zone

This area provides refuge, with restful, semi-enclosed places to sit amongst plants and grasses. Streetlife’s Drifter picnic sets offer opportunities for groups to casually congregate, while the linear Drifter benches that line the pathways offer plentiful seating options with views out to the wider recreation area, serving as a gentle enticement to the activities offered. 

Active zone

Drifter benches and Drifter top seats also provide diverse seating options along the edges of the sport courts in the Active zone, which also includes a 200m jogging / walking loop, activity spaces, and a fitness ‘Trim Trail’ to promote physical activity and its associated wellbeing benefits.

Streetlife’s furnishings were selected for their contemporary style and robustness. Furthermore, specified Drifter products are realised in Streetlife’s material option of Lava Grey, a durable composite made entirely from recycled household plastic waste. The landscape architects note that the environmental aspect of using high-quality recyclables is also an important characteristic of these furnishings. 

Outcome

The innovative spatial concepts and high-quality design elements specified at Sycamore mark a progressive shift towards a new standard for mental health facility design.