High Care

The Mental Clinic High Care is a closed facility accommodating people with severe psychiatric difficulties. The design contributes to the improvement of their situation by concentrating on the experience and connection between inside and outside. This is made possible by introducing daylight into the building core, unorthodox corridors, and interaction with the landscape through views and use of materials. These interventions add up to a greater well-being for the clients thus resulting in a dramatic reduction of patient aggressiveness and less need for separation.
CLIENT
Stichting Rivierduinen
LOCATION
Oegstgeest, The Netherlands
FUNCTION
Healthcare, Psychiatric Centres
STATUS
Delivered

A protected world

The new Mental Clinic High Care is located in an old country estate surrounded by different buildings for mental health care. The building is designed with a rather closed facade towards the street which conceals a protected world behind, connected with nature and the surrounding landscape. Walls and floor patterns flow from outside into the interior.

A meandering sequence of lounges

To improve the orientation within the building and to prevent the perception of a clinical corridor we designed the circulation spaces in a way that no opposite walls stands parallel to each other. A communal corridor, connecting different sections of the building, transforms into a meandering sequence of lounges. It is a remarkable achievement in a mental clinic that corridors in the heart of the building have become enjoyable spaces, where forms, materials, views, natural light and planting create an evident relationship with nature.

“Perception and well-being are the main focus for all users of the High Care Clinic. For the clients it is no longer mandatory to draw together for leisure. The design allows them to choose for themselves: alone in their private room, in the garden or in various communal spaces with different sizes and atmospheres.” – Peter Vader, director of Mental Clinic High Care.

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