Seating and tables from the specialist Challenging Behaviour Collection by Knightsbridge Furniture have been specified for the £46m Redwoods Centre in Shrewsbury.
Recently opened, the inpatient mental health facility was commissioned by South Staffordshire & Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust to replace the town’s old Shelton Hospital, which was built as an asylum in the 1840s.
Redwoods Centre comprises seven wards providing 112 beds for adult mental health patients from Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin as well as further afield. While the emphasis of the care package provided by the centre is on supporting patients in their own homes wherever possible, the new facility enables them to be admitted as inpatients for periods of up to four weeks to provide more intense support during crisis periods.
Knightsbridge Furniture has supplied its range for the day rooms, lounges, dining areas and bedrooms, with upholstered seating, stacking chairs and foam block ‘soft’ seating installed together with tables and cabinet units, all of which are designed to be safe, robust and stylish in an effort to provide a calming setting, but taking into consideration the challenging behaviour and unique needs of the patients.
“The quality of the furniture is excellent and it has been well received by service users, staff and the managers of the trust,” says Margaret Hughes, operational commissioning manager of the Redwoods Centre. “Without fail, everyone has commented on how smart and modern it looks. The furniture meets all the varying needs of service users, yet there is no ‘feel’ of being in an institution.”
Headed by regional manager, Jack Leigh, the Knightsbridge team worked closely with the trust during the course of the project, presenting a range of options and even staging an open day to enable staff and service users to view the furniture, colours and fabrics being proposed for specific areas. In addition Knightsbridge liaised with fabric suppliers on the trust’s behalf to secure the required colours and designs and to ensure the fabric was appropriate for use in healthcare settings while maintaining a non-institutional feel.
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