Hospital architecture – How to renovate, repurpose and built psychiatric facilities

Psychiatric hospitals are often poorly designed, contributing to violent incidents, lack of meaningful patient-staff interactions, and patient boredom. Growing evidence suggests that the physical environment of hospitals can support positive interactions, enhance feelings of control and safety, and improve staff efficiency. Despite this, there is limited guidance available for clinicians on how to design or repurpose hospital spaces to make them more therapeutic.

This course was developed to:

1. Raise awareness of how the built environment affects patients and staff;
2. Provide tools to assess the quality of hospital spaces; and
3. Offer guidance on how to renovate, repurpose, or design psychiatric facilities to enhance their therapeutic value.

The course will be interactive and delivered in two 90-minute sessions.

The first session will explore how the built environment impacts patients, staff, and visitors. Key concepts such as ‘therapeutic environments’ and ‘salutogenesis’ will be introduced. Participants will also learn how to quickly evaluate the quality of ward, facility, or hospital environments.

The second session will focus on practical steps. Participants will be encouraged to bring photos, plans, or specific problems related to their own wards or hospitals for solution development. If no materials are provided, attendees will be divided into small groups to generate improvement ideas for communal ward areas, nursing stations, and patient bedrooms.

Course Director: Nikolina Jovanovic, Croatia