A Campus for Healing

The Design-Build team of HDR and PCL Constructors was selected through a competitive bid process to lead the design and construction of the Valleyview mental health facility, located on the 244-acre Riverview Lands in Coquitlam, British Columbia.

The project will provide 38 beds — along with recreational and academic space and a variety of outreach programs — to treat youth aged 12 to 17 with significant psychiatric and behavioural difficulties, as well as individuals aged 14 and older who have a developmental disability and concurrent mental illness.

The building comprises five residential “neighbourhoods”:

• Provincial Assessment Centre: A self-contained unit with its own secure admissions area, entrance, outdoor client area and administration.
• Response Program: Assessment centre for youth at risk, aged 12 to 16. Accommodates both on-site residential and non-residential clients.
• Maples Dala Program: A residential treatment program for youth aged 12 to 17 with formal disorders of thought or affect, or anxiety disorders.
• Maples Crossroads: Admits adolescents with complicated clinical and behavioural issues in a secure 90-day residential program.
• Complex Care Unit: A neighbourhood for children and youth aged 7 to 18 with complex care needs. The CCU will provide a comprehensive suite of therapeutic services, with short-term treatment and intervention plans with an intended length of stay of between three and nine months.

The Facility provides a welcoming campus-like feeling that offers the right amount of space to facilitate a variety of travel options between program spaces, including indoor and outdoor routes that enable interaction with a range of program spaces. Several secure gardens and recreational zones are provided with their own space to take full advantage of sunlight, open air and the lush, treed surroundings of the Riverview campus.

The materials of the Facility help reinforce a home-like feel and welcoming character that promotes its West Coast design aesthetic. Materials consist of light and inviting colours that evoke optimism and vitality, along with wood-look paneling that complements the natural surroundings.

The facility is designed to LEED Gold standards, with extensive natural light, LED lighting, daylight sensors and many more features that facilitate energy efficiency and conservation.