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A PR IL 2015 | 103 Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care – St. Joseph's Health Care London PHOTOGRAPHY SHAI GIL FOTOGRAPHY/COURTESY PARKIN ARCHITECTS LTD. + ARCHITECTS TILLMANN RUTH ROBINSON; COURTESY ST. JOSEPH'S HEALTH CARE LONDON Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care – St. Joseph's Health Care London by DAN O'REILLY L ocated in a pastoral setting on the edge of the quiet southwestern Ontario community of St. Thomas, the Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care could be considered a model of how health and design professionals are addressing the needs of individuals with a mental illness who have come into contact with the criminal justice system. Recipient of a top international design award, the three-storey, 233,640- square-foot, minimum- and medium- secure 89-bed facility evaluates, treats and rehabilitates patients of the Forensics Psychiatry Program placed there under the direction of the Ontario legal system. The facility is comprised of a range of therapy and assessment rooms, inpa- tient and outpatient service offices, retail stores, offices, a gym and fitness centre, café, and a spiritual care area known as the Chapel of Hope (that can be portioned in two for multi-faith ser- vices) which front onto, overlook, or are adjacent a number of landscaped thera- peutic courtyards. The Ontario Review Board, the agency that reviews the status and progress of each patient as the individual transitions from an inpatient setting back to com- munity living, also has an office there. Operated by St. Joseph's Health Care London (St. Joseph's), a patient care, teaching and research centre whose roots go back to 1869, it replaces a "very old and out-of-date" former psy- chiatric hospital that was not suitable for forensic mental health care and where the patients had to share rooms, says Terry Maslen, St. Joseph's director of facilities management. Delivered as a public-private part- nership under Ontario's Alternative Financing and Procurement model, the centre was designed, built, financed and will be maintained by Integrated Team Solutions (ITS) over a 30-year conces- sion agreement. ITS is a joint venture between Fengate Capital Management Ltd. and EllisDon, which was the design-build contractor. Construction of the project started in 2011 and was completed in 2013. Toronto-based Parkin Architects Limited and architects Tillmann Ruth Robinson were the joint venture architects, while structural engineers were Hastings & Aziz. "The centre was designed to bal- ance privacy, security, safety and health spaces," says Cameron Shantz, a princi- pal with Parkin Architects, emphasiz- ing the patients are "people who are in trouble with the law, but not considered criminally responsible for their actions." Shantz adds that the overall goal was to create a facility that, while secure, would provide a home-like environment that enhances treatment and rehabilitation. Although it was a completely inte- grated architectural team, with both firms working together in all aspects of the project, there were different areas of responsibility. A firm with an extensive portfolio of health care facilities, Parkin Architects, designed the interior and looked after the clinical planning. Parkin's design philosophy was guided by a set of principals known as the Psychosocial Rehabilitation (PSR) model, which focuses on healing indi- viduals and promotes involvement of family and the community, with social reintegration being the ultimate goals, says Shantz. To help with the normal- ization of the patients' environment, the building is divided into three treat- ment zones: Home, Neighbourhood and Downtown, each representing the patients' transition towards recovery. The neighbourhood section is where therapy rooms are located, while the downtown area is the hub of the facility designed to be a bright, lively and ani- mated space, mirroring a downtown city streetscape with retail shops, a cafe and gym. Consisting of three cor- ridors that can be easily monitored by a nurses' station, the home section is where the patients live. "Each patient has their own bedroom and washroom," says Shantz, pointing out that this is a major advancement from the shared bedroom arrangement at the old facility. "Virtually every room was provided with a window to the exterior or a three- storey atrium, which allows natural light to penetrate to the core of the building," says Steve Done, senior associate, archi- tects Tillmann Ruth Robinson. He adds that this feat was achieved by placing three-level units on the north end and two-level units on the south. Part of architects Tillmann Ruth Robinson responsibility was focusing on the siting and exterior design of the facility, a task which included respect- ing the existing heritage features of the property, a nearby archeological sig- nificant site and the conservation regu- latory limits. "The orientation of the facility provided for a more discreet ser- vice delivery access and the improved placement and construction of a planned future expansion to the south." At the same time, the placement of the complex near a protected wooden area enhances the site without impact- ing on the woodlot. A distinctive ocular window in the chapel and the measured use of brick and stone as the centre's cladding pay tribute to the former psychiatric build- ing, says Done, in a reference to the heri- tage planning considerations. Another objective was to extend the healing and recovery process occur- ring inside the building to the exterior grounds. Some of the ways that goal was met was through the creation of wander- ing pedestrian walkways, the courtyards and the creation of a spiritual garden outside the Chapel of Hope. "There, the supervised patients can gather in the pro- tected landscaped gardens for quiet con- templation and reflection," adds Done. A variety of secure fencing approaches were incorporated into the design includ- ing buff brick enclosures with large win- dows to protect the patients' privacy. When it came to the structural design challenges, Ken Addeman, Hastings & Aziz president, says: "We were front and centre early in the design phase work- ing to prepare complete foundation details far in advance of the superstruc- ture. This was so that EllisDon could get in the ground and make an early start on their fast track schedule." As for the mechanical design, the Centre addresses the needs of this particular type of health care over a long life cycle, says Phil Bastow, part- ner, The Mitchell Partnership Inc. The building utilizes waste heat from high COP mechanical cooling processes for domestic water preheat and air stream heating, as well as having the ongoing benefit of quality high-efficiency central plant heating and cooling equipment. Other project partners included electri- cal and civil consultant WalterFedy and RonKoudys Landscape Architect Inc. In June 2013, shortly after construc- tion was completed, patients in the old hospital either walked or were driven to the new centre, says St. Joseph's Terr y Maslen, noting that incidents where patients have had to be confined to isolated areas for misbehavior have decreased by 75 per cent compared to what was the case in the old building. In the summer of 2014 – at a gala in Toronto – Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care received the 2014 International Mental Health Design award from the International Academy for Design and Health. "We were pleased to work with St. Joseph's to develop this great new facility that acknowledges the importance of creating appropriate environments for people living with a mental illness," says Cameron Shantz from Parkin Architects. As prestigious and welcome as the award is, the architects say what really matters is the positive impact the build- ing is having on the patients. "They feel respected," says Done. A LOCATION 401 Sunset Drive, St. Thomas, Ontario OWNER/DEVELOPER St. Joseph's Health Care London ARCHITECTS Parkin Architects Limited / architects Tillmann Ruth Robinson DESIGN-BUILD CONTRACTOR EllisDon STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT Hastings & Aziz Ltd. MECHANICAL CONSULTANT The Mitchell Partnership ELECTRICAL/CIVIL CONSULTANT WalterFedy LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT Ron Koudys Landscape Architect Inc. TOTAL SIZE 233,640 square feet. TOTAL COST Undisclosed