Calm and healing architecture

Psychiatric Centre Copenhagen is being based at Bispebjerg Hospital, where the focus has been on creating a therapeutic physical environment.

The first phase has been taken into use, while the brand new department of psychiatry at Bispebjerg is expected to be ready in 2025. The building has been designed in a collaboration between PLH Arkitekter and Friis & Moltke Architects, which have sought to ensure a human scale with high-quality materials and good acoustics. Each section comprises patient rooms arranged around a courtyard. In addition, there are a number of activity rooms, communal facilities and treatment rooms. Each room has a large bay window in which patients can relax. The bay window and a niche with a desk and TV are clad in veneer to create a warm and friendly environment. Troldtekt has the same effect on the ceilings, ensuring good acoustics and a textural feel that enriches the interior.

A gesture of transparency

In general, the focus has been on the acoustics, colours and lighting conditions at every level, which all help to create a healing framework that provides a sense of calm and well-being. Troldtekt is a recurring material in the rooms, activity rooms and corridors around the entrance foyer, which is a beautiful and welcoming atrium on two levels. At an early stage of designing New Psychiatry Bispebjerg, a mock-up was created of one of the rooms, where special acoustics and daylight were examined as parameters for healing architecture.

Moreover, the materials chosen for the exterior of the buildings – brick and anodised aluminium panels – harmonise beautifully with the interiors. The large window sections and the distinctive bay windows in the facade are key elements that signal openness while helping patients to distinguish between inside and outside.