Psychiatric hospital, Bispebjerg

With healing architecture, the new Psychiatric Center Bispebjerg puts the patient front and center

Category

Health

Location

Bispebjerg, Denmark

Year

2014 – 2025

Status

In progress

Size

22,500 m²

Client(s)

Mental health services in the Capital Region of Denmark

Team

Co-architect: Friis & Moltke
Landscape architect: LYTT Architecture
Engineer: Søren Jensen A/S

Patients needing psychiatric care at Bispebjerg will be greeted by bright and open settings, tailored to ensure a good level of care, while providing a safe environment for patients, relatives and employees at Psychiatric Center Copenhagen.

The project, designed by PLH Arkitekter in collaboration with Friis & Moltke, focuses on actively using architecture to create a healing environment for patients and offers space for activities both indoors and outdoors.

The new hospital is being built in stages and is expected to be completed in 2025 and offer a total of 200 beds. In 2022, the first building, housing the emergency department, four wards with 74 beds, an ECT clinic and administration offices, opened.

“At PLH Arkitekter, we have shown several times how architecture can make a positive difference to our well-being. That expertise has been our foundation in the tender competition and when we subsequently developed the new Psychiatric Center Bispebjerg, all in close dialogue with patients, relatives and employees. I am very happy to see that the result is now a flexible setting for positive, stable treatment with the patient in focus, where the open, welcoming and stimulating environment supports a good process,” says Lars Toksvig, partner at PLH Arkitekter.

Contact:
Lars Toksvig
lt@plh.dk
T: +45 2720 0595

Special focus on the patients

Patients are given bright and welcoming private rooms with bay windows, where they can sit and enjoy the surroundings. From all wards there is access to intimate atrium courtyards with sensory experiences while space has been created for individual and shared physical activities in the building's activity room.

Architecture that benefits both patients and staff

The new and flexible environment will make a big difference to the patients, says lead therapist at the Psychiatric Center Copenhagen, Nana Stengade Troelsgaard:

"The architecture here is something very special. It is both beautiful and has a great influence on the patients' well-being. For example, we have large glass facades out to the inner courtyards to draw light into the entire ward section, where there is also a big and easily accessible multi-room. We can offer many different activities, because the room layout invites you to do both physical exercises as well as stimulating immersion, creativity and tranquility."

As part of the interior design of Ny Psykiatri Bispebjerg, emphasis has been placed on lighting conditions, acoustics and colors that can positively influence the patients' state of mind and behavior. At the same time, the open and clear environments make it easier for the staff to maintain an overview and prevent conflicts.

Focus on atmosphere and integration with the local area

Based on patient requests and comments, PLH Arkitekter’s design creates a homely atmosphere with cozy common areas, so that patients and relatives can choose to join social activities when they like.

A key part of the overall plan for the new hospital has been to forge a seamless link with the local area. Focus has been on breaking down the large scale in order to fit the building into the new Psychiatric Center Bispebjerg’s master plan and existing architecture by bringing the green landscape close up, in between the walled wings and out into the courtyards.

The first stage of the new Psychiatric Center Bispebjerg, which houses the emergency department, four wards with 74 beds, an ECT clinic and administration offices, opened in 2022

The new Psychiatric Center Bispebjerg is expected to be fully completed in 2025 and offer 200 beds