International design and technology practice, IBI Group, is collaborating with Hugh Baird College and Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust to design a ‘pioneering’ Health, Engagement, and Training Hub that will promote positive health and wellbeing in Bootle, Liverpool.
Hugh Baird College, a further education provider which runs a pastoral care system, has set up a partnership with mental health Trust, Mersey Care, to transform the site of a former church into a training academy and mental health ‘drop-in centre’, funded by a £3.9 m grant from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.
IBI Group Mental Health lead, Wendy de Silva, said: “The public sector is recognising the need to combine resources and design places that truly integrate health and social care. At IBI we have experienced this convergence, but projects like these, anchored by educational need, are rare. We are proud to be working with two long-term clients to help them design in wellbeing at the heart of their local community.”
The refurbished church will include a new mezzanine and café area, a base for levels 1-6 Health and Social Care training in partnership with Mersey Care, and simulation wards for trainee paramedics. Adjacent, a new ‘Life Rooms’ area – built on the footprint of the former presbytery – will house facilities to support Mersey Care in delivering a programme of ‘life skill’ courses, including a mental health Recovery College, meeting spaces for community groups, space for arts and cultural activities, and an employment/enterprise hub.