Behavioral Healthcare Design

• Designing a No-Wrong-Door Mental Health Crisis Care Center

  July 14, 2026

  

  Huntsman Mental Health Institute pairs a no-wrong-door model with a “warm blanket” approach, creating a place for people in psychiatric crisis to pause, stabilize, and begin to heal.

• Rethinking Healing Spaces: The Importance of Spiritual Care in Behavioral Health

  October 16, 2025

  

  For Kevin and Kathy Turner, spiritual care isn’t about overt religious symbols; it’s about creating spaces where people in crisis feel safe, private, and respected. “If a psychiatric facility isn’t addressing spiritual needs, then a key component of care is missing.”

• Humanizing Behavioral Health: SmithGroup’s Vision for Healing Spaces

  July 7, 2025

  

  From personal experiences with mental health facilities to innovative funding solutions, SmithGroup brings a noticeable human perspective to their work. Their latest project for Los Angeles County demonstrates how this approach transforms behavioral health design, one carefully considered detail at a time.

• The Architecture of Hope: Brian Giebink Leads HDR’s Vision for Better Behavioral Health Spaces

  March 7, 2025

  

  For HDR architect Brian Giebink, transforming behavioral health design starts with listening to what people say they need and the deeper meaning behind their words.

• The Art of Healing: Anosha Zanjani’s Design Revolution

  August 7, 2024

  

  Anosha Zanjani creates behavioral healthcare spaces that are not just functional but truly therapeutic. Learn more about her mission to revolutionize mental healthcare through the built environment.

• Stephen Parker: Defying Stigma by Dignity-Driven Design

  February 7, 2024

  

  Some stigma and misunderstanding still surrounds behavioral healthcare facilities within the architecture field. Stephen Parker advocates for humanizing psychiatric spaces through intentional design choices that promote dignity, starting with patient autonomy and agency.

• Whitehall’s Journey in Behavioral Health Design Innovation

  October 26, 2023

  

  We remain committed to learning from and collaborating with our customers and hope they’ll continue relying on our expertise, as well. Together we can achieve something remarkable in behavioral healthcare.

• AJ Thomas: Designing Dementia Care Spaces

  March 28, 2023

  

  When it comes to designing facilities for the care of persons with dementia in the U.S., there are no codes, standards, or even robust guidelines to follow. AJ Thomas and his peers at Corgan have set out to create guidelines for inpatient and outpatient dementia-friendly healthcare design.

• Bob Biggio: Commitment to Community & Environment

  November 17, 2022

  

  Bob Biggio, Boston Medical Center’s Senior Vice President of Facilities & Support Services, discusses BMC’s $300 million campus redesign, as well as its new net-zero inpatient behavioral health facility and its commitment to the community and the environment.

• Mark L. Spies: Designing for Behavioral Health—It’s Not Just a Job

  March 21, 2022

  

  Mark Spies, a principal at Stengel Hill Architecture, talks about the role architecture and design play in mental health and its positive impact on patients, staff, and designers.

• Pandemic Prompts New Healthcare Design Trends

  October 8, 2021

  

  Two distinct healthcare design trends have appeared over the last year and a half. First is a need for flexible spaces and modular design to better meet communities’ changing requirements, and second is a systems approach to infection prevention. Read on for details and real-life examples!

• Nathan Howell: Behavioral Healthcare Design for Resiliency & Connection

  July 13, 2021

  

  HKS Architects associate and project manager Nathan Howell and his colleagues have developed a different spin on the resilient design trend, considering not just the built space but the individual human perspective, as well.

• Scott Holmes: Human-Centered Design & Patient Safety in Behavioral Healthcare

  March 16, 2021

  

  When confined by a limited budget, behavioral healthcare facilities often make compromises on design. BWBR’s Human-Centered Safety® approach is not only designed to speed recovery while keeping all parties safe, but also to ensure that small budgets don’t result in less than satisfactory outcomes.

• Michele Cohen: Making Emergency Mental Healthcare Safe & Welcoming

  December 4, 2020

  

  Read our interview with Michele Cohen, principal at NORR, and get her take on addressing the design challenges brought on by the rise of patients presenting with mental health issues at hospital Emergency Departments.

• Kimberly McMurray: Making a Difference for Patients Through the Design of the Built Environment

  September 22, 2020

  

  In this interview, Kimberly McMurray, principal at BHFC examines the ways evidence-based design can drive the changes behavioral healthcare needs during these troubling times and beyond.

• Alison Leonard, AIA, EDAC, on Behavioral Healthcare Design

  March 19, 2020

  

  The word “institution” can evoke negative feelings and discourage people from seeking treatment, or even talking about mental health issues. Healthcare designers and architects can help ease their fears.

• Ligature-Resistant Construction Challenges Every Healthcare Provider Needs to Know

  May 13, 2019

  

  Healthcare providers can avoid costly mistakes during new construction or retrofit projects by familiarizing themselves with the requirements of the Joint Commission and other regulatory agencies.

• The Growing Need for Ligature-Resistant Products in Unexpected Places

  May 13, 2019

  

  It’s not just behavioral healthcare providers who need ligature-resistant products. If your facility interacts with potentially at-risk people, consider what steps you can take to make your patients or students safer.

• Why Ligature-Resistant Products & Universal Design Are Important for All Healthcare Environments

  May 7, 2019

  

  The use of ligature-resistant products in behavioral healthcare is evident. Should hospitals, emergency care facilities, and rehabilitation/nursing homes also consider them? Absolutely, and here’s why.

• Three Important Healthcare Design Trends That Are Here to Stay

  April 4, 2018

  

  These healthcare design trends have been around for some time, but they’re now receiving more support from manufacturers. What once was only an ideal is becoming reality.

• Ligature-Resistant Products’ Role in Emergency Rooms

  June 16, 2014

  

  An alarming problem is spreading in many communities across the United States. Hospital emergency rooms are seeing a rise in the number of persons under mental distress being admitted, and they are not equipped to deal with them properly.

• What You Need to Know About Anti-Ligature and Behavioral Facility Design

  February 1, 2013

  

  Architects face a unique challenge when designing a behavioral healthcare facility, creating a welcoming—but safe—environment.