Contested spaces: the problem with modern psychiatric interiors 

In this article, Suzie Mckellar gives us an insight of Psychiatric interiors and how they affect the patients. She suggests there is not enough research and attention on how the interiors of such spaces affect patients. 

She points out a post-occupancy study in Canada showed patients of depression who had sunny rooms, stayed 2.6 days less, also an Italian study concluded that patients of depression staying in east-faced rooms stayed 3.7 days less than others. This idea supported by ‘a growing amount of scientific evidence suggests that nature elements or views can be effective as stress-reducing, positive distractions that promote wellness in healthcare environments’ (RS, 1991).  She also suggests that seating of the patients is very important, if the seating is arranged as if it was our home, it would make the space feel more homely and comfortable, more familiar therefore better fro the healing of the mind. 

The Pebble Project focused on changing the atmosphere of a ward in Saint Alphonsus Reginal Medical Centre, Idaho. They aimed to reduce noise prior to building a new patient tower. This included thicker and more sound-absorbing walls, a quieter shift change of the staff and carpeting the floors; also differentiating the areas the nurses would use for patients or work by different colours, light settings. The data showed ‘the actual decibel rate per patient room to be less than 51.7, which contributed to an improvement in the patient’s quality of sleep from 4.9 to 7.3’. (McCullough, 2010)


The two important figures of the nineteenth and early twentieth century with different opinions on how to approach mental health regarding the interiors and how to care for patients.  John Conolly believed in ‘Moral Management’ introduced by William Tuke, which was based on humane and psychosocial care, derived from psychiatrics and/or religious beliefs. Unlike his predecessors who believed in physical restraint, Conolly believed to cure and help these patients through ‘comfort and kindness’ by promoting ‘Domestic Interiors’. 

On the other hand, Maudsley believed ‘mental illness was a rational scientific problem not an emotional one. Therefore the care and kindness solution was indeed unscientific. He believed in physical treatments to cure these patients which at the time was highly innovative and highly progressive. 

Furthermore; I believe that both theories have valid ideas and I think there should be a compromise between the two. I believe psychological issues have a whole world of scientific reasonings behind them, however I also believe that our surroundings (interiors) and the method of treatment (the kind and caring) also has an effect on the patient. If the patient is physically healing, he should also be mentally healing; the two are simultaneous, they are parallel and hand in hand as important as one another. 





Large windows provide patients with natural light and views at the Community Hospice of Northeast Florida’s Bailey Center. A small chapel offers patients, families and staff a space for quiet reflection. 




Seating, desk and shelving space encourage the presence of family and friends, while high-quality finishes in the patient room and restroom create a less institutional, more-homelike environment. (Flagler Hospital, St. Augustine, Fla.)

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