The Kirkbride Plan

Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride

Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride was a psychiatrist from Philadelphia who designed and helped develop an architectural system of Mental Asylums. The concept of his plans and designs of treatment within Mental Asylums became know as the 'Kirkbride Plan'.

The idea of Kirkbride's design was to allow a positive atmosphere within a hospital. He felt it was important for patients to have plenty of natural light and be far away from 'hectic energy of urban centers'. With the large land, patients were encouraged to help farm and maintain the grounds as well as partake in chores. This was to encourage a normal lifestyle with help when required. He was a great believer in better treatment of patients and this is why he came up with his design; The Kirkbride Plan.

New Jersey State Lunatic Asylum (1848)

The example above was the first ever Hospital to use 'The Kirkbride Plan'. New Jersey State Lunatic Asylum. The Linear design was designed to help segregate the patients effectively. With the main admissions area in the center, one wing situated male patients whilst the other wing situated female patients. The subdivisions in each of the wings were primarily used  to house patients depending on the symptoms of their illness. As stated above, this design was used to maximize natural light for patients create a more positive lifestyle and with the landscaped farmland, the asylum could become self-sufficient by growing it's own food etc.

As for St. Columbas Lunatic Asylum, Sligo, Ireland, for which my project is based on, the similarities between the architectural style of this building and The Kirkbride Plan are very similar however given that St. Columbas Lunatic Asylum construction began in 1847, the plans and designs must have been designed and developed by the buildings architect, William Deane Butler. I still wanted to post about The Kirkbride Plan as I found it very interesting and the idea of it is very useful for me as I have struggled to find much information on William Deane Butler. I think this may be because he was an independent architect.

Links: 

http://www.kirkbridebuildings.com/about/history.html

http://trans-alleghenylunaticasylum.com/main/history3.html