New Treatment Center Transforms Care through Design for Mental Health Healing

VCU Health and Children’s Hospital of Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth University recently celebrated the ribbon cutting for their new Virginia Treatment Center for Children. This new 120,000-square-foot facility, located in Richmond, is the result of $56 million in funding from the Virginia General Assembly and a dedicated community of donors and mental health advocates.

One in five children will experience a serious mental health issue, but 75 percent of them will not receive the care they need, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. VTCC is an acknowledgement that national issues surrounding children’s mental health need to be addressed and VCU’s Department of Psychiatry is leading the charge.

The facility is transformational for children’s mental healthcare, bringing VTCC’s services out of a 50-year-old institutional space and into a modern facility with an inspirational design that incorporates natural light, green space and unique safety features important to modern mental healthcare.

VTCC features design elements to support healing. Located on 4.5 acres, the new building offers amenities and aesthetics that help children heal and assist physicians treat their patients better. These features include:

• Inspirational design with gardens on 4.5 acres
• Floor-to-ceiling windows to allow as much natural light as possible into the facility
• Half-court gym and recreational area
• 32 inpatient rooms with private baths and accommodations for parents to stay with children
• 20 outpatient exam rooms
• Soothing aesthetic, warm and bright color palette and comforting, home-like furnishings
• Therapy mall for occupational, recreational, art, music and play therapy
• Music piped in and controlled at nurses’ station

CannonDesign was the architecture firm for the project and Balfour Beatty was the construction company.