Artful design makes all the difference at state-of-the-art facility

Improving the patient experience is one of the primary objectives of the architects behind Scotland’s newest, hi-tech cancer treatment centre but, as Ray Philpott reveals, taking an unconventional design approach pays dividends From an architectural perspective, designing a radiotherapy-based cancer... View Article

Design in Mental Health: Meeting the challenges together

Whether you are looking at adding new buildings, considering refurbishing existing buildings or ongoing maintenance work Design in Mental Health 2016 is here to help you source information, solutions and ideas. The event consists of the Design in Mental Health... View Article

Versatile timber is a healthy choice

The construction and materials used in mental health facilities are at the core of how care is ultimately delivered – a critical factor with a direct effect on the physical and psychological wellbeing of the end-users. Timber technology can be... View Article

Throwing light on dementia design

Oliver Buchan, head of innovation at Luxonic, argues that, while the lit environment is often an underestimated consideration when creating a dementia-friendly building, relatively simple lighting solutions can be very effective When designing a facility with dementia sufferers in mind... View Article

There’s more to paint than meets the eye

Dulux Trade Brand Manager Daniel Hall explains how selecting the most appropriate paint types and finishes for different spaces within a healthcare building can create enhanced environments for patients and staff A healthcare building is a working facility with a... View Article

Safe furniture design should also be comfortable and stylish

With an increasing focus on creating stimulating mental health environments which nurture recovery, intelligent furniture design is playing a more important role than ever writes Neville Byng, sales and marketing consultant with healthcare furniture specialist Pineapple Contracts In mental health and other challenging... View Article

Focus on the right flooring for dementia

John Mellor, Polyflor’s Market Manager for safety flooring, explains why selecting a floor covering embodying modern, dementia-friendly design principles is increasingly important and spotlights the research behind the thinking According to latest figures from the Alzheimer’s Society, more than 850,000... View Article

How dementia-friendly is your building… really?

Poor research and verification means newly-built healthcare facilities are often wrongly claimed to be dementia-friendly, argues Professor June Andrews, director of the influential Dementia Development Services Centre (DSDC) at the University of Stirling Architects make a difference to how people... View Article

Time to rise to the dementia challenge

Britain can learn from the Japanese experience of designing and building for dementia care, argues Jitesh Patel, Senior Development Manager, Kajima Partnerships. Every three seconds someone somewhere in the world is diagnosed with dementia. In the UK there are over 850,000 people living with... View Article

Suspended Animation – Hotel Hotel, Canberra

Thousands of pieces of reclaimed timber were used to create a “directional vortex” and a monolithic grand staircase for the award-winning Hotel Hotel interior in Canberra. Stephen Cousins reports Walking up the grand staircase and into the lobby of Hotel... View Article

Effective access control: shared buildings

Neil Thomas, national sales manager at Videx – who has been providing door entry and access control systems to housing associations for almost 30 years ­– addresses the key issues that need to be considered when choosing door entry systems... View Article

Easy does it…

Clarissa Youden, associate director of Total Home Environment discusses how good ventilation can reduce building maintenance and fuel poverty, while offering dramatic health benefits So you’ve got old housing stock, with complaints of mould, condensation and high heating bills. While... View Article

Improve your property with skylights

Sunsquare is a designer and manufacturer of bespoke skylights to be awarded a BSI Kitemark in the industry. As an expert in his field, MD of the company Justin Seldis talks through the legislation concerning skylight installation for landlords Property... View Article

Maintaining aluminium guttering

Martyn Reed, the technical director of ARP Ltd in Leicester is keen to discuss the benefits that aluminium can offer as a rainwater and roofline solution With the government looking to deliver a strategy of building affordable housing, improving the... View Article

kbb back at Birmingham

Celebrating an impressive 30 years, kbb Birmingham, the UK’s largest gathering of the world’s best kitchen, bedroom and bathroom brands, returns to the NEC, Birmingham from 6 – 9 March 2016. Since the recession, which caused many businesses in the... View Article

Modern design houses stories from deep time

The Jurassic Coast is getting its first dedicated fossil museum thanks to National Lottery Funding and one collector’s generosity, reports Steve Menary. Over the past four decades, Steve Etches has collected more than 2,200 fossils from along the area of... View Article

Y:Cube: Rogers’ return to the prefab home

Sir Richard Rogers’ innovative offsite housing concept has been held up as a potential solution to the housing crisis, providing compact and affordable flats for sites not normally suitable for development. Stephen Cousins reports. The UK housing crisis, that so... View Article