Editorial -- Design & Client Centred Care: BreakthroughWinter 2004

Creating a network of meaningful places

Among factors that contribute to healing and client-centered care, design plays an important role. As designers, the Community Care Consortium (C3) team working on the design of CAMH's redevelopment at the Queen Street site is concerned not only with individual spaces and finishes, but with the quality of the whole environment. For us, spaces to live and work in must create a meaningful context and a sense of place for clients, staff and visitors. This notion extends from the private client bedrooms to the larger context of the neighbourhood.

Over the last fall, C3 worked with CAMH clients and staff to design new client care buildings called 'Alternate Milieu' at the Queen Street site. This project is a microcosm of the larger development, and is a critical first step.

In these new buildings, the bedroom is a space that anchors a client's sense of security and well-being, designed as a single room with an ensuite washroom, and the room is adaptable so clients can create their own sense of comfort. Large windows provide views and light. Also, furniture can be arranged in different ways and artificial lighting can be adjusted.

The bedrooms are grouped in small, family-sized units for six people, each with their own living, dining and kitchen area. Not much larger than a domestic family room, the communal area is easily adapted for different activities including entertaining guests. In addition, there are multi-purpose rooms for visiting or TV, as well as a laundry room for personal use.

Each unit will be accessed from a centrally-located lobby. An elevator provides access to each of four floors as does a stairway with windows looking out at a garden court. The lobby is intended to create a comfortable sense of place just outside the unit.

Like houses in the city, each building is firmly rooted in a neighbourhood context. All bedrooms overlook the garden court, while communal areas relate to the street. The garden court offers a landscaped outdoor space that changes with the seasons. Each of the three buildings has a front door directly on Fennings Street, an existing neighbourhood street that will be extended into the site. Sidewalks, residential traffic and on-street parking will integrate with the fabric of the neighbourhood.

These are some of the primary elements that help to weave a meaningful sense of place for clients, staff and families, and thus create a supportive setting for client centred care.

By Terry Montgomery, a member of the Community Care Consortium (C3), the architect team for the redevelopment project at CAMH.

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