Location
Waikato, New Zealand
Client
Waikato District Health Board
Role
Architect, Masterplanner, Health Planner
Year
2019
Value
$80m
Contact
Mungo Smith
The new acute mental health facility for Waikato DHB catchment will accommodate up to seventy-four inpatients in four units arranged in two pairs across a single level. The proposed site, on a prominent ridge in the north east part of the hospital campus commands extensive views over the city, parklands, and the Waikato River.
Waikato Adult Mental Health Facility
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The project has placed a strong emphasis on a kaupapa Maori design process to deliver tangible outcomes that will aide and support the health and well-being of Maori service users as well as other community members.
The concept has been developed with the narrative of ‘healing waters’ as a key driver which has helped describe the relationship with the land, and the form of the building. Internally the layout provides a high degree of flexibility based on modularity and a looped circulation system.
Inpatients units are arranged along the building perimeter to take advantage of the site's striking ridgeline views which can also be enjoyed from the emergency assessment and admission suites, staff areas, and spaces accessible to the wider community at the lower entry level.