Feature Article
“The Other Hospital | Forensic Psychiatric Hospitals”
The August issue of the professional journal das Krankenhaus features Arne Thorben Damm’s article “Forensic Psychiatric Hospitals – The Other Hospital.” The article examines a distinctive and highly complex area of healthcare architecture in which RDS Partner has been active for decades.
Forensic psychiatric hospitals differ fundamentally from correctional facilities. They are hospitals with a therapeutic mission operating under specific security requirements, while also serving as a living environment for many patients over a period of years and as a demanding workplace for staff. Architecture and landscape design must provide security without allowing it to become the dominant spatial theme. Human scale, manageable structures, clearly legible circulation, and differentiated buildings and outdoor spaces can provide orientation, foster stability, and preserve dignity.
RDS Partner therefore increasingly approaches forensic psychiatric hospitals as therapeutic campuses, where living, therapy, work, sports, and recreation are spatially differentiated while forming part of a safe and clearly organized overall concept. The article brings together insights and principles developed through decades of our work in forensic psychiatry. RDS Partner is currently serving as general planner for three new forensic psychiatric hospitals in Lünen, Wuppertal, and Essen-Heidhausen.
