2021 New Zealand Architecture Awards Winner
Tiaho Mai Acute Mental Health Inpatient Unit, Middlemore Hospital
Tiaho Mai represents a new model of care where a focus on health, wellness, whānau and community are at the heart of recovery for people requiring acute-level mental healthcare. As a result of extensive research and collaboration with the district health board, the architects have structured this building around seven courtyards and lightwells, inverting the traditional hub-and-spoke design. Deliberately domestic in form, the architect’s skilful use of natural timbers and colour in its interior make Tiaho Mai feel more like a home than a secure care facility. Social spaces and open-air courtyards are accessible from wide, glazed, light-filled corridors, and cross views allow staff to observe from a distance while upholding the independence of people who access its services. In a difficult building typology, Tiaho Mai proves that good architecture can help enable the delivery of mental healthcare that is uplifting and respectful of the people who access it, as well as their whānau and staff.
- Practice
- Klein Limited
- Category
- Public Architecture
- Location
- Auckland
