Description:

Two stunning new buildings now house Hillmorton’s specialist mental health services, supporting recovery of NZ’s most vulnerable community.

Te Huarahi Hou - ‘a new journey’ - was an opportunity to consolidate mental health services in the Canterbury region, and shift from providing mental health services in old, run-down, and security-centric environments, to creating salutogenic, flexible and therapeutic environments.

This project represents the design team’s continued commitment to challenging the traditional typology of mental healthcare architecture and improving the quality of life for its users, by delivering a piece of public architecture which welcomes and nurtures all of those it accommodates.

It delivered two buildings that are now home to the specialist mental health services relocated to Christchurch’s Hillmorton campus from the ageing Princess Margaret Hospital. The facilities are leading the way for mental health facilities in Aotearoa, in terms of their sustainability, flexibility of use, and the therapeutic environments.

The larger building (4600m2) provides inpatient and specialist outpatient services for mothers and babies, children and adolescents, and those with eating disorders. A separate 16-bed inpatient unit (1900m2) accommodates adults with high and complex needs.

The design provides abundant natural light and connection with the outdoors, including generous courtyards and a playground for children and adolescents creating a welcoming, homely environment that supports oranga hinegaro – mental wellbeing.

Early conceptual development for the project explored how the building would respond to the local context, ecology, and culture past and present. The Southern Alps, with their rugged landscape, became a reference point for the building form, signifying the ideas of resilience and strength in number.

The interior concept also drew on features from the Canterbury region which are connected by one element – water/wai - to provide links from communal areas, passageways and support staff facilities to the different specialist mental health services within the buildings each with their own visual identity. These elements, such as Avon Heathcote Estuary, Braided River and Akaroa also provided a link for the overall building to the physical site location geographically, culturally and spiritually.

The project was the first to adapt the Green Star tool for a mental health facility achieving a 4-star Green Star design rating, and is on track for 5-star Green Star as-built.