Sbrana Psychiatric Hospital Opens
By Morwalela Kesalopa. One of Botswana’s major national projects, the P381 million Sbrana Psychiatric Hospital was opened on Tuesday morning by His Excellency the President of Mozambique, Mr Armando Emilio Guebuza amidst the pomp and ceremony befitting such a major development.
Located on a 12.5 hectare plot, the new psychiatric hospital will provide a complete range of facilities including administration offices, wards, day hospital, outpatient department, laboratories, pharmacy, an occupational therapy complex and utility buildings, with a total floor area exceeding 40,000.00 square metres.
The Brief for the new hospital was detailed, recognizing the propensity for mental healthcare facilities to be of lower standards in comparison to general hospitals; not only in Botswana, but Africa and the world in general. The brief was also tailored to change this stereotype. Members of the design team took a reconnaissance tour to mental health care facilities in the United Kingdom to familiarize themselves with design aspects required of such a modern and complex health institution.
Sbrana Psychiatric Hospital has opened a new chapter in mental healthcare from both the design, equipment and facilities perspective.
Though initial proposal was to upgrade the existing hospital in Lobatse, the scope of works and the extensive requirements of the development made it more feasible to, instead, put up a new facility.
Design
Aspects peculiar to mental health institutions such as the need for segregation of patients and provision of adequate security, feature prominently in the design. All these developments in designs were done in recognition of the fact such an institution will be housing a wide spectre of patients of differing mental states including aggressive, forensic and the elderly. In addition, this is a consideration of great importance for such a development having taken note of the suicidal tendencies of some psychiatric hospital patients.
The acute ward, for example, is further divided into children’s, adolescents’ and adults’ wards which are also further segregated for male and female patients. The rooms have been designed to individually accommodate few patients, with the largest room having a capacity of eight patients, though the anticipated general occupancy is one to two patients per room. The development is a 300-bed facility with five wards namely observation, acute, rehabilitation, psycho-geriatric and forensic wards.
The Hospital has been zoned into two – Outpatient and Inpatient. The Outpatient section will include the day hospital, outpatient department, psychology and sociology, occupational therapy, laboratory, pharmacy and administration complex.
The occupational therapy zone consists of patients’ library; occupational therapy complex (comprising metal and woodwork shops, music practice, etc); sports field, vegetable garden and a “kgotla” specifically designed to afford the patients interaction between themselves, staff and relatives.
The Inpatient section consists of the Observation Ward, Psycho-geriatric Ward for the elderly, the Acute Ward, Forensic Ward and the Rehabilitation Ward which has been located near the Occupational Therapy Complex as patients within this ward will be allowed more access.
In addition, facilities like “black” and “white” space to be used by the general public for stress management have been incorporated into the project in an attempt to counter the misconception that such a facility is reserved for the mentally unstable.
Material Selection
The choice of materials has been determined by the underlying themes in the different areas within the hospital such that the children’s wards are to be finished in bright colours, the adults’ wards in more subdued shades; while the psycho-geriatric wards for the elderly will be defined by the prevalence of wood to generate a warmer and homely feeling.
The wards are to be finished in special anti-graffiti paint, having taken note of the relatively high level of abuse and vandalism in psychiatric hospitals. Courtyards have been extensively used in the design, recognising the need for psychiatric patients to be in constant touch with the ground for therapeutic value. Every ward therefore is characterized by one of these courtyards. This is further complemented by appropriate landscaping and water features, also considered to have therapeutic qualities.
Energy Saving Considerations
Design for energy efficiency was one of the most important aspects of the project. Instead of the conventional window - mounted air-conditioning units or air-conditioning by moving cooled air in insulated ducts, a high efficiency chilled water system is used. Chilled water is pumped from the chiller plant to fan coil units in the building, which deliver cool air to the spaces without consuming much energy.
In addition, to complement the mechanical cooling, free cooling from night ventilation is used in all the administrative buildings to further reduce the cooling load.
It has been designed to reflect the function and image of an important national referral hospital without necessarily being extravagant as is to be discernible from the impression of the exterior’s finish and aesthetics. The complex’s combination of three, double and single storey structures is predominantly finished to the exterior in wall coating and face bricks, but it also features curtain walling glazing and cladding.