The St Joseph Medical Centre is a psychiatric clinic in Munsterbilzen. The care offered is organised on the basis of three age-based target groups (children and adolescents, adults, and the elderly) and takes many varied forms, from out-patient activities, one-day hospitalisation and residential treatment to mobile teams. The MCSJ has 276 registered beds, 35 registered day-care places, 20 end-of-life psychiatric care-home beds and also 45 registered psychiatric care-home beds at a site in Tongeren.

www.mc-st-jozef.be

The MCSJ wishes to present itself as an outstanding psychiatric clinic that provides its patients and their environment with sound all-inclusive care, with a special focus on the individual approach.

This all-inclusive care aims to enhance their quality of life by preserving, restoring or creating psychological stability or making psychological disorders bearable.

The first patient was admitted in 1897, almost 120 years ago. So some very old buildings can still be found on the site, some of them empty. One of them, the ‘Abdissenhuis’ (Abbess’s House), has been a classified monument since 2003. Account must also be taken of the fact that about 25% of the total area is a protected archaeological site. The site is divided in two by a public road, Abdijstraat. The various buildings/departments are scattered around the site and most are surrounded by greenery.

In the rapidly-changing field of mental health care, the MCSJ wants to translate its strategic care plan into a new master-plan that focuses especially on creating a humane care environment integrated into the village community. This master-plan will also form a framework for long-term development in the renewal of the built infrastructure. The MCSJ is at the same time linking to the master-plan a design assignment for the first two building projects. They are a new building for the elderly (68 beds and 15 day-care places) and a new building for adults with 25 places for one-day hospitalisation. If it is apparent from the master-plan that it is expedient to bring forward other building projects (instead of the two proposed projects), this is negotiable.

For the designer, the challenge is to design and insert a new, functional care infrastructure while taking account of the already newly-built departments/services (e.g. K-delta for children and adolescents, and the Technical Department). In addition, the designer is expected to draw up a management plan that complies with the Immovable Heritage Decree, for the protected zone and the protected monument. This management plan is to be geared to the new master-plan. For the re-use of the ‘Abdissenhuis’, a study is to be made of its integration into the work of the MCSJ, taking account of the legislation with which the MCSJ has to comply.

The MCSJ continues to opt for buildings specific to each target group, with clear distinctions between the groups. The appeal of the new buildings should emphasise the destigmatisation of the psychiatric patient and stimulate socialisation, recovery and re-integration. The buildings provide a safe, structured environment, guarantee the necessary privacy and enable supervision. There is a preference for low-rise buildings and an open, domestic atmosphere. The new campus retains its clear layout and creates opportunities for encounters: architecture and care programmes stimulate the life of the community. A protective residential environment for our clients is created by screening with green buffers. Day activities are clearly distinguished from residential activities.

Since at the time of publication there is still no clarity regarding possible subsidies for building projects in the healthcare sector, the previous VIPA subsidy arrangement must be taken into account (unless in the meantime new guidelines would appear).

The MCSJ wants to build in the most sustainable and CO₂-neutral way. In this regard, the cost of building is very important, but the running costs are just as important:

• Technical maintenance and cleaning costs, logistical costs (walking distance for staff, number of storerooms, etc.)
• Energy costs (integrated concept for the building, technical installations and stability)
• Conversion costs (flexibility of the building for expanding/shrinking departments)

 This is to be achieved in the framework of the former VIPA regulations/subsidies and the registration standards for psychiatric clinics.

 After the master-plan has been delivered, the principal may decide to award all or part of the assignments for its execution to the design team. But is not obliged to do so; it may also decide to award the subsequent assignments to third parties after a new tendering process. In this case, the team that has drawn up the master-plan will be appointed as quality supervisor.