The complex is set within a landscape structure which supports both underlying roles of the institution: therapeutic care and security. The therapeutic benefits of contact with nature are fully utilised with buildings and wards intimately entwined around a series of gardens and courtyards where each patient has close, generous and free access to the outdoors.

Separate zones for Adult and Forensic services were achieved through a series of individual units providing services for specific groups of users that share a main entrance and a number of support facilities. Single loaded corridors around courtyards allowed for ‘swing beds’ to be allocated to different units to reflect gender/capacity requirements.