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'.0*~~~~~m M e e - S u Planning process included visits to other facilities By ColIn Murphy Vice Preaident Architecte Crang & Boake lue. As ' 'roject manager for the architectural team on the Whitby Mental Health Centre (WMHC) redevelopment project, I was the main contact between the client and the tearn. My reiponsibilities included ensuring that the prject would lie delivered on time and on budget and keeping the client in:formed, on a day-to-day basis, regarding the progress of the design and contract documents. My responsibilities also included management of the joint venture team - ensuring that the entire team was pulling together toward the same goal. To that end, I scheduled countless meetings between the client and the design team. There were over 200 people involved in the redevelopment teazn, Including clients, architects and consultants.' The Workcing Croup was the key management group - it consisted of key representatives from the client and theé architect and had a total of 10 people. This group met on a biweekly basis throughout the design and contract document phases of the project. how many gallons of coffee we I h Ail key design, planning and budgetary considerations were directed through the working group which was comprised of Ekki Bunten of the Management Board Secretariat, Jane Thonipson of WMHC, Bill Bergstrom -of WMHIC, Tannis Chefurka of Resouroe Planning Group, Gene Kinoshita and Gordon Robinson of Moffat Kinoshita, Tim Rommel of Cannon and myself. Together, one of the most challenging aspects of this particular project was that ail the tender drawings were required te, be inputted on computer. In my experience, this is one of the first projects in Ontario of such a size where the tender'drawings were totally computerized. At the end of the project we will provide the client with ail the drawings on computer discs which the client will use for future building changes and renovations. The joint venture architecte were regularly in close *contact with user groups, representatives from patient care unit programs, department heade and also with the consultants. Over a two-aiid-a-half-year period, the whole process required over 500. meetings involving M. M CLEAN-IT CENTRE Congmtulations & Best Wishes Whitby Mental Healîh Centre on the Grand -Opening ofyour state of the- arîfaciliiy ufrom the management & staff at Swish. PICKERING A UJDJO VISUJAL IflC. SUPPLIER OFFINE VISUAL COMMUMICA TIONS EQIUIPMENT FOR INDUSTR y& EDUCA TION Con auain Whitby ie4tai Health Centre on your Grand Openingl 725 Westney Rd. South, Unit 8, Ajax, Ontario Li S 7J7 (905) 683-6666 1-800-314-8714 Cogratulatons On Your Grand Openingl Jlm Faherty M.,P.P. DURHTAM CENTRE 114 Dundas St. E., Whitby 905-430-1141- went through. During this period, we toc several exploratory trips t psychiatrie facilities throughou North Amenica. These tripe were tremendous help because thip showed us, at a very crucial tini in the design phase, what te air for and what to avoid in the desig of psychiatrie facilities. At the Menninger Clinie li Topeka, Kansas, for instance, wi learned that simple design ang simple planning solutions cai achieve an outstanding facilit> Tradionally, hospital corridors an eight feet wide. The reason for thii is easier accese and circulation. We learned at Menninger thai siix-and-a-half.foot.wide patien' corridors had a homier feeling and could stilI provide the necessary circulation for patients and staff. At Menninger, we also saw first - hand the importance of providing a quiet acoustical environment for patients by using soft materials such 'as carpet, flooring and acoustical absorbent ceilinge. Lighting was enormously important - and we saw how day lighting and artificial lighting play an important part in psychiatrie planning and design. On another trip, we learned the importance ofaccess for patients te the outside and the importance of courtyards for providing a secure outdoor environment. The need for easy accese te the outside was reinforoed by feedback we received fromn taîks with patients at Whitby Mental Health Centre itself. Patients and staff alike felt that accees te the grounds -te outdoors - was very important. This was an element that they enjoyed in the current hospital and they wanted te keep it in the design of the new one. The secure outdoor environment was a strong priority for the older, geriatric psychiatric patient. We discovered that privacy was importanÏt, and on our trips' te other facilities, w e saw how carefully laid* out emaller bedrooms provide a' more comfortable spaoe than a larger 'hospital' bedroomn and how conîfortable spaces for the psychiatric patient help promote healing. Patients we had spoken with had shown a desire te have a writing desk, a closet for their clothes and a seating area. These can be laid out in smaîl compact areas and work very well. On these tripe, we also saw examples of planning that we would avoid. At one forensic psychiatrie facility we visited, we discovered a jail-like and almost hostile environinent with guards posted right within nursing ik stations. Elsewhere, groupe of to them were standing around ut peering at patients. It was a very a unpleasant place. The large y bedrooms had heavy-duty sliding ie doors that made you feel you were in ina prison. n The roome had open toiles, no softnese or pleasantness about the n place - narrow six-inch windows re looked out at the world. That was ýd a facllity we knew we would flot n~ emulate. K. In contrast, the forensic e psychiatric unit at Kingston was S pleasant - It had soft finishes, the staff integrated well with the t; patients. When we went there, we t; didn'tfeel at all intimidated by the i patients - it was a totally different yatmosphere and one worth emulating. * As we went through the design gprocees, in order te help the client r user understand the design and the building that they were getting, we used cardboard models te illustrate what we were doing. r Ini one of the closed-up cottages Fwe bufit a fuIl-scale mock-up of a Fnursing unit - a private room, a double room, a nursing station. AUl of these helped the client user te, more easily visualize the space. Extensive visita by the architectural team and the consultant team te the existing hospital helped us te understand, in exacting detail the probleme encountered on a daily basis by staff and patients alike., When our team arrived on the project, the client had established a ,very clear program of requirements which identified 500,000 square feet as the gross floor area of the building. They had also established a budget of $155 million -- not te be exceeded. This budget included ail coste and «included allowanoee for unforeseen circunistances. Later on, due te, slower inflation an& compromise, this budget wae reduced te $133 million. In the end, the actual building and site development cost is $89.5 million. The building cost per square foot is $154. Included in the cost of the building were two forensics patient care units, at a cost of $195 per square foot. In aIl, over 80 people were involved on the architect consultant and design side of the project. On the client side, approximately 39 user groupe took part involving, in total, well over 200 people. I strongly believe that at the end of the day, through ahl our efforts, we'll have provided a very user. friendly, people.oriented building. PARAGON PROTECTION LTD 12 10 Sheppard Avenue East, Suite 505 North York, Ontario M2K 1E3 Tel: 416-498-4000,e, Fax: 416-498-1648 To ail staff at the WhiWtby Mental Health Centre, may we take this oppo rtunity to say thank- you for allowing us to have been of service for the past ten years, and "Best Wishes " for the future, in your wonderfl new facility. * * R R R d * * $ R R~ e i g * * R, j . ***~ ~ Ma 1 1 1 1 ump- ffl m m ý m qur quw NATURAL lighting through windows and skylights is inCOrporateri in many areas of the centre. thousands of houre. Most of those meetings took place at Crang & Boake's office in Don Mille - and we don't even want te think about