Case Studies
Malcolm Arnold House, St Andrew's Hospital
At a first glance, Malcolm Arnold House looks like an upmarket country house hotel, set on landscaped and manicured grounds.
In fact, it’s a purpose-built facility on the campus of St Andrew’s Hospital in Northampton, designed to provide a service for disadvantaged children and young people with learning disabilities, associated challenging behaviour, and mental health problems.
Rolton Group was involved in this extensive facility in conjunction with a developed partnering team, providing mechanical, electrical, civil and structural engineering design services for the client. The project involved a new build 400,000ft² residential, educational, and social care development that accommodates 44 adolescent psychiatric patients across four wards. The key to the project was understanding that within such an environment, the quality of the patient accommodation is paramount in providing first class healthcare.
The building design takes full account of the need for safety and security for staff and patients; for the staff there are clean, well illuminated lines of sight down each bedroom corridor, into the day area and into the seclusion suite where unsettled patients can be safely monitored.
Light fittings, grilles, radiators and light switches have been considered as potential ligature points; to eliminate risk to patients there are no opening windows and the light fittings incorporate shatter-proof glass.
The facility provides a great amount of space for living and on-ward therapy, and patients have access to recreational, therapeutic, and vocational facilities on the St. Andrew's campus. The grounds include a swimming pool, gymnasium, activity hall and cafe/shop.
Rolton Group also partnered with a national lighting manufacturer, with whom we co-designed a light fitting specifically for the client’s needs within this project. The challenge was to equip Malcolm Arnold House with state of the art health and safety features, but to do it in a way that was totally discreet, and the luminaire provides the safety required as well as being “domestic” in its appearance, so as to complement the environment the client wishes to provide.