BSc Architectural & Interdisciplinary Studies
The materiality of concrete and its detail finishing is an aesthetic one. Concrete produces a variety of textures and finishes in which the surface often becomes affected by weathering, leaving residual marks such as biological growth, rust, grit and dust. Especially evident on the Southbank, buildings alter with time; weathering is the natural effect of time on architecture. The porous surface of concrete allows the accumulation of dirt and results in dramatically changing the outward appearance of a building and its surroundings. The dissertation engages with several photographs to develop the ways in which weathering allows us to reimagine the Southbank as an aesthetically impressive complex. Laura Skeggs Innovation at Shenley Hospital: Architecture and Mental Health
The Bartlett School of Architecture 2015
Architecture can play a significant part in the treatment and recovery of mental health patients. The construction and design of Shenley Mental Hospital (open from 1934–1998) was described as a ‘tremendous advance’ by journalists writing at the time of its completion. Right from its inception, Shenley Mental Hospital could be understood as innovative in its design and ethos. Its original villa system design that consisted of blocks or villas, which housed around 50 patients, spread across the estate in a radial plan, was created as a result of advances in the treatment of mental health. The dissertation aims to highlight innovation through architecture at Shenley Mental Hospital – the way it was used to treat mental health, plus its adaption and adherence to modern research in the treatment of mental health in order to maintain its ‘progressive’ label. More famous case studies of contemporary architecture are used as a comparison; these include Ticehurst Hospital and Alvar Aalto’s Tuberculosis Sanatorium. The chapters within the dissertation are roughly chronological aiming to give a timeline of innovation and changes that occurred at Shenley Hospital; they cover aspects of the hospital such as Shenley’s homely interiors, the segregated community, and the famous villa experiments that took place there. Attention to detail and a conscious interior design effort meant that a domestic environment had been created and Shenley Hospital was a place that patients could feel at ease and call home. The original plans of the hospital – located in the London Metropolitan Archives – indicated that some villas at Shenley Hospital were marked ‘quiet and harmless’ and others ‘senile and infirm’ and patients were housed according to the severity of their illness within the villa system. After the New Mental Health Act was passed in 1959, treatment at establishments such as Shenley became more about integration within society and the community rather than segregation; it was realised that this was more beneficial to the treatment of mental health. Despite the ideas of patient care changing radically over the last century, staff at Shenley worked very hard throughout the years to adjust, learn, and innovate. Despite the revolutionary nature of Shenley, very little research or academic writing has been produced about it, which meant that this project was recovery in nature. The format of the dissertation mimics that of a scrapbook, like so many that were consulted in archives as part of the primary research. This research project sparked interest within the local community and former employees of Shenley. The project has been rewarding in the way it informs and intrigues local people about local history. Arguably few other contemporary buildings espoused such innovative and progressive approaches to the treatment of mental health as Shenley Mental Hospital. 152