In late 2016, a user of the Peacock Centre’s mental health services poured a can of kerosene over the reception counter and set it on fire, causing catastrophic damage.

In 2018 we were approached to begin the long process of restoration.
The opportunity was also seized to implement a new approach to mental health care in the redeveloped facility and we developed a vision for the new Centre as a multi-service facility which would support users’ personal agency in accordance with the Trieste Model of mental health care.
The Trieste model is recognised by the World Health Organisation as a world standard for community psychiatry, but it had never previously been adopted in Australia.

In response to this opportunity we developed a design that is seamlessly integrated with the new model of care. Building design focusses on light, space, colour and materiality. New elements are calming and beautiful.
We also demonstrated the strong alignment between the Trieste model and the WELL Building Standard and incorporated the Standard’s requirements in the design, with high value placed on indoor environmental quality, thermal comfort and acoustics.

With construction work well advanced, in late 2021 two youths broke into the site and set a second devastating fire. It took a huge toll on everyone working on the project, but we applied personal agency to support each other’s mental wellbeing, an initiative that manifested in an extraordinary forest of handprints and messages on the façade of the building.

After a long moment of reflection, work was restarted, and the Peacock Centre now leads the nation in supporting the Trieste Model of mental health care through built form, and it provides a template for a fundamental change in the way that buildings can support world standard mental health service delivery.

Three Key Learnings:

1. The role of outstanding architecture and landscape design in supporting world standard mental health service delivery.
2. The value of applying built environment sustainability tools such as the WELL Building Standard to achieve exemplary living and working environments for residents, users and staff in mental health facilities.
3. The value of stakeholder engagement, lived experience input and a co-design approach in generating inclusive and supportive mental health facility buildings.