The Airedale Centre for Mental Health, Keighley, West Yorkshire
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Seating, coffee tables and dining furniture supplied by Knightsbridge Furniture are helping to create what has been described as a 'hotel-like' environment in a 10m new mental health centre in West Yorkshire.
The Airedale Mental Health Centre in Steeton, near Keighley, was opened in September by Lord Kamlesh Patel, chairman of the Mental Health Act Commission: at the time of opening, Lord Patel reflected that "People coming into hospital at a time of mental crisis should be received into a friendly, clean and comfortable environment where they can feel safe. I have high hopes that Airedale will provide such an environment."
Key to the creation of this environment is the furniture, and a welcoming yet modern ambience has been established in the centre using a variety of models from the Knightsbridge Care Collection. In the main activity room, for instance, Nimbus multi-purpose high-back armchairs, sturdy Zeta stackable chairs and Arran lumbar-supporting chairs in both fixed arm and drop-arm configurations complement specialist Hamilton bariatric seating, all in pastel blue with light beech frames. Additionally, a pink/lilac family room is furnished with supportive mid-back Rossetti armchairs and Balerno low-level coffee tables, whilst smaller lounges around the site are made to feel homely with the deeply cushioned Islay high-back armchairs and further examples of Hamilton bariatric chairs.
A fresh, contemporary feel also pervades the Airedale Centre dining rooms, again populated by furniture from the Knightsbridge portfolio. Here, the stylish natural wood frames of Zeta stacking chairs and Hamilton armchairs complement the elegant lines of circular Balerno dining tables, creating versatile and inviting dining areas. Elsewhere, the visitor centre and staff meeting rooms also feature the Knightsbridge Care Collection.
Purpose-built, the Airedale Mental Health Centre replaces a much older building which was considered no longer suitable for treating patients with mental health issues. Separate male and female wards, each capable of holding up to 27 people, are supplemented by a PICU designed to accommodate a further four patients.
Throughout the complex, the furniture and furnishings were selected in line with the growing awareness of the importance of ambient surroundings in influencing behaviour, both by fostering a healing environment and by encouraging a sense of community and personal respect. Indeed, Barry Seal, chairman of Bradford District Care Trust, which runs the centre, has described the interior as being 'like a hotel': facilities are arranged around the central courtyard and include en-suite bedrooms, a gymnasium and dedicated rooms for art and craft therapy, all accessed by wide, bright corridors and decorated in tasteful pastel palettes.
