The Case for Good Design: Creating Safe and Therapeutic Mental Health Environments
Design in Mental Health Network - Ireland Webinar
Free Lunch & Learn Webinar
How can good design improve safety, support recovery, and shape better mental health care?
📅 Thursday, 7 May 2026 | 🕛 12:00–13:30 GMT | 💻 Online (Teams) | 🎟️ Cost: Free
Design is not neutral. It shapes safety, behaviour, and recovery.
How can good design improve safety, support recovery, and shape better mental health care?
Join the Design in Mental Health Network (DiMHN) for this free webinar exploring how evidence-informed, human-centred design can improve outcomes for service users, staff, and services
Bringing together clinicians, estates professionals, architects, designers, and people with lived experience, this session will explore how the built environment shapes care in practice. From early engagement and co-production to retrofitting existing buildings, speakers will share practical insights into creating safer, more therapeutic environments within real-world constraints.
Attendees will gain practical insight from across disciplines on how good design can reduce risk, support staff wellbeing, and enable more effective, compassionate care.
You’ll also learn how to access free DIMHN resources, CPD opportunities, and join a growing community of practice focused on improving mental health environments.
The session will also build momentum towards the upcoming Design for Healthcare Environments Ireland Conference & Exhibition, taking place in Dublin in September 2026.
Why This Conversation Matters Now
The Opportunities for good design
Ireland is entering a period of significant investment in mental health infrastructure, with the 2026 national capital plan prioritising developments such as perinatal mental health services, specialist eating disorder units, and new acute facilities.
Alongside this investment, services are navigating real and immediate challenges, including staffing pressures, the need to reduce restrictive practices, and the limitations of existing estates that were not designed for modern models of care.
This creates both urgency and opportunity: to ensure that design is not an afterthought, but a core part of delivering safe, therapeutic and recovery-focused environments within real-world constraints.
As a charity focused on improving mental health outcomes through good design, the Design in Mental Health Network is bringing together local and international learning to share practical, evidence-informed approaches.
This webinar is part of that journey, building towards Design for Healthcare Environments Ireland 2026 and supporting collaboration across clinicians, estates teams, designers, and people with lived experience.
What the Webinar Will Cover
Speakers & Topics
Charlotte Burrows, CEO of The Design in Mental Health Network
Charlotte will open the session by setting out the case for good design as a critical component of safe, therapeutic and effective mental health care.
Why does design matter in everyday practice?
Ciaran Cuddihy – Practice Development Facilitator, HSE
Ciaran will focus on how the design of mental health environments is experienced in everyday clinical practice, and how it directly influences safety, behaviour, and recovery. Drawing on his experience as a mental health nurse and practice development facilitator, he will reflect on the realities of delivering care within existing environments, particularly in moments of distress and crisis.
He will discuss:
- How everyday design elements can impact people experiencing mental distress
- The relationship between environment, risk, and restrictive practices
- The challenges of delivering therapeutic care within existing and often constrained settings
- The importance of early collaboration and co-production
Why does design matter in everyday practice?
Andrew Arnold
Architect & Director, Gilling Dod Architects | DIMHN Trustee
Many mental health environments operate within existing or legacy buildings. Andrew will explore how thoughtful design approaches can help retrofit and adapt these spaces to better support therapeutic care.
Drawing on over 20 years of experience in mental health design, he will discuss:
- Practical strategies for improving safety and wellbeing in constrained environments
- The importance of robust briefing and understanding real-world workflows
- Lessons learned from co-produced design projects
- Case examples including crisis facilities, CAMHS services, and specialist Perinatal units
Andrew will also highlight how collaboration between designers and clinicians can help raise expectations and drive innovation across the sector.
Occupational Therapy Perspectives on Therapeutic Environments
Brenda Garry
Occupational Therapist
Shaista Zaidi
Occupational Therapist
Occupational therapists play a vital role in shaping environments that support recovery, self-regulation, and meaningful activity.
Brenda and Shaista will share clinical insights into:
- The importance of early clinician input in design and refurbishment projects
- Creating environments that support sensory regulation and reduce distress
- Balancing safety requirements with environments that feel supportive and human
- Practical considerations, including lighting, acoustics, flooring, and spatial layout
- The role of staff training in ensuring environments are used effectively
- Their discussion will explore how environmental design can empower service users and support staff in delivering compassionate care.
The session will include facilitated discussion and a live Q&A, offering opportunities to share perspectives and ask questions.
What You Will Learn
- How good design improves safety, recovery, and care in practice
- Practical approaches to improving therapeutic environments within real-world constraints, like balancing safety and therapeutic feel.
- How to apply evidence-informed design across different settings
Who Should Attend
This webinar is designed for anyone involved in creating, managing, or using mental health environments, including:
- HSE Capital & Estates professionals
- Psychiatrists and clinical psychologists
- Mental health nurses and nurse managers
- Occupational therapists and allied health professionals
- Social workers and community mental health teams
- Hospital and community service managers
- Architects and designers specialising in healthcare environments
- People with lived experience interested in, or shaping, mental health spaces
- Private and voluntary sector providers
Join the Conversation
This webinar is just one conversation. DiMHN brings together the lived experience, clinical knowledge, and design innovation needed to shape the future of care environments.
> Become a DiMHN member or partner with us
📆 Save the Date: DiMHN 2026 Conference | 2–3 June 2026 | Coventry Building Society Arena – book your passes here
Looking Ahead: Design for Healthcare Environments Ireland 2026
This webinar supports the build-up to the Design for Healthcare Environments Ireland Conference & Exhibition, taking place at the RDS, Dublin on 29–30 September 2026.
The event will bring together clinicians, designers, policymakers, and suppliers to share practical solutions and innovative approaches to improving mental health, intellectual disability, and autism environments.