Senior Capstone: Kirkbride Wellness Center

During my senior year at Colorado State University, each one of us were tasked with developing a hypothetical adaptive reuse of a building that reflects our design intent and passions. My project focused on rehabilitating 5 interconnected buildings of the currently abandoned Athens Lunatic Asylum in Athens Ohio. I have had a long fascination for the history of mental health care facilities as well as developing reuses for hospitals that are often demolished and erased from American history. The Athens Asylum and over 300 other mental hospitals around the country were designed with a single philosophy developed by Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride. In the 19th Century, Dr. Kirkbride advocated for the architecture and interior design of a mental healthcare facility be in itself a form of treatment. For my redesign of the long-abandoned facility, I wanted to incorporate the Kirkbride Philosophy into an affordable wellness resort and community center.