COVER STORY
Building mental health
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Can the university estate better support student wellbeing?
tudent mental health is a very real issue for educational institutions. Statistics from an Insight Network online survey showed that 50 per cent of students have contemplated self-harm and 21 per cent have a current mental health diagnosis (most commonly depression). Mike Entwisle, Partner and Education Sector Director at Buro Happold, discusses the impact our surroundings have on mental health and how university estates can be improved to help tackle this important issue.
4 | CAMPUS | Winter 2020
‘It’s okay not to be okay’ is a phrase often used when talking about mental health. While it’s encouraging to see an increased awareness about mental health over the last few years and greater acknowledgement about how serious an issue it can be, there’s still plenty of work to be done to offer support to those who need it. But what about their surroundings? Importantly, is it okay for university estates not to be okay? It’s becoming increasingly acknowledged that the state of our mental health is intrinsically linked to our environment, and expecting
students to live and study in substandard buildings, within unpleasant external surroundings, is impacting on their wellbeing. Conversely, universities that have invested in high quality facilities are reaping the benefit. As our own global research into the design of university facilities has found, something as simple as improving visibility or ease of movement within or between buildings or improving metrics like temperature, noise and air quality can be directly linked to positive wellbeing outcomes. Students spend so much time in
