Montage Health Ohana Campus

Montage Health Ohana Center for Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health

Monterey, CA

An increasing number of children suffer from mental health issues, a problem compounded by treatment that typically takes place in facilities that isolate rather than heal. The design of the Montage Health Ohana Center for Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health applies the latest in neuroscience research to provide an inclusive, healing environment for pediatric patients, families and caregivers.

The mind and body are inextricably linked. So we collaborated with NBBJ Fellow Dr. John Medina and Montage Health staff to design the Ohana Center to support executive function—providing choice and a sense of control over one’s environment—as well as immune system health and caregiver well-being, all integral to the success of behavioral health treatment.

To do so, the project uses prefabrication and cross-laminated timber (CLT), accentuates the site's natural landscape, emphasizes treatment through medicine and the building itself, and serves as a prototype for future behavioral health facilities.

"The building itself becomes an element of our prevention program. It creates a sense of possibility, of hope, and the ways in which mental health must be built. Mental illness must be treated and its curable. But it must be built. The building itself is a reminder, a promise, and a facilitator.” - Dr. Susan Swick, MD, Executive Director, Ohana

Features

The center's form creates a welcoming embrace inside and out, fostering a sense of comfort reflective of Ohana, a Hawaiian term for "extended family." A series of softly curving one-story volumes unites an outpatient clinic and program, a 16-bed residential program and amenities.

Related Idea

Uplift Podcast: How to Design Now for the Behavioral Health CrisisRead idea post

Read idea post

Project Details

Client Name
Montage Health

Square Footage
55,600 SF

Program
16-bed residential program, partial hospitalization program, intensive outpatient program, café, dedicated garden spaces for staff and patients, gym, music room

Services
Planning, architecture, interior design, lighting design

Phase
Completed

Client Name
Montage Health

Square Footage
55,600 SF

Program
16-bed residential program, partial hospitalization program, intensive outpatient program, café, dedicated garden spaces for staff and patients, gym, music room

Services
Planning, architecture, interior design, lighting design

Phase
Completed

AIA National Honor Award for Interior Architecture
AIA Healthcare Design Award, Winner – Built
AIA AAH Healthcare Design Award, Winner – Unbuilt
Dezeen Design Award, Health and Wellbeing, Longlist
European Healthcare Design Awards, Finalist
Fast Company Innovation by Design Award, Honorable Mention – Health
FRAME Award, Spatial Category - Healthcare Center, Shortlist
Silicon Valley Business Journal Structure Awards – Health
Mix Interiors Mixology Award, Finalist - Project of the Year — Healthcare Interiors
NOMA Phil Freelon Award, Design Excellence Citation – Unbuilt

Interior Design, "Explore Interior Design’s 2024 Best of Year Award Winners"
Fast Company, "Inside a Radical New Facility for Treating Youth Mental Health"
Bloomberg, "How Design Promotes Better Mental Health for Children"
The New York Times, “A New Tool in Treating Mental Illness: Building Design”
Monterey Herald, “Monterey OKs $106 million children’s mental health facility”

Montage Health Ohana Center for Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health

To do so, the project uses prefabrication and cross-laminated timber (CLT), accentuates the site's natural landscape, emphasizes treatment through medicine and the building itself, and serves as a prototype for future behavioral health facilities.

Features

Project Details

Related Content