Once hidden behind walls, a Victorian psychiatric hospital in South London has been transformed into a “unique new village” helping to break the stigma surrounding mental health.

Springfield Hospital, in Tooting, is now home to two new world-class mental health facilities, a 32-acre public park – the biggest to open since the 2012 Olympics – hundreds of homes, a care home, shops, cafés and a gym as a redevelopment project continues.

Once the long-awaited transformation is complete, the 82-acre site will have a total of 1,288 new homes, including 33 per cent affordable housing, integrating mental health facilities with the community. Construction is expected to last until 2028.

Springfield Village is a far cry from the site’s days as the Surrey County Lunatic Asylum, which opened in 1841. The asylum was extended and remodelled in the 19th century, before being renamed Springfield Hospital in the 20th century. For decades, it continued to lay isolated from the community it served, reflecting outdated attitudes to mental health from years gone by.

Determined to move away from this, South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust brought forward a masterplan to redevelop the hospital, integrating it with the community, which was approved in 2012. The idea is that mental health facilities and the patients accessing them are visible and involved in the village as more people move in.

The trust formally appointed STEP – a partnership between Sir Robert McAlpine Capital Ventures and Kajima Partnerships – as master developer of the project in 2019.

Most of the old hospital buildings were demolished, with £150million mental health facilities built on either side of a new public square at the heart of the development. The Trinity building opened to patients in 2022, with Shaftesbury opening in 2023.

Some of the old hospital buildings, including the Grade II listed main hospital building, have been converted into new homes, keeping the buildings’ original features.

Developers building homes across the site are Sir Robert McAlpine, Barratt, City & Country and London Square.

When the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) toured Springfield Village, members of the team who made the ambitious project a reality said it has transformed care for the trust’s patients, while helping to break the stigma they can face.

They said the development has mental and physical wellbeing at its heart to improve the lives of residents and visitors, with Springfield Park opening up the site to the public in ways it has never been before. The park has a pavilion café, amphitheatre, fitness trail, play areas, youth shelter, sensory gardens, ponds and 700 new trees.

Harriett Gladwell-Philips, project lead for STEP, told the LDRS the redevelopment is one of the “most complex projects” she has ever worked on – with construction affected by Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ms Gladwell-Philips said: “Some days it felt like whack-a-mole – you’d solve one problem and three more would pop up. But that’s what made it so rewarding – we worked through those issues together with the NHS trust to deliver something special.”

She added: “At Springfield, we’ve put the mental health facilities at the heart of the community, not hidden away as has been the case historically.”

Richard Coe, Project Director at Kajima Partnerships, spoke of how the company developed a model to fund the mental health facilities by building and selling homes, which could be repeated across the UK.

He said: “We focused carefully on maximising the value of NHS surplus land while ensuring strong value for money in the construction of the new mental health facilities, supporting infrastructure, and the 32-acre public park. It took rigorous planning and a strong collaborative effort – but ultimately, we delivered. We’re proud to have made this ambitious project a reality.”

Ian Garlington, Better Communities Programme Director at South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust, also told the LDRS residents moving into the “unique new village” are contributing to a “place that supports recovery and inclusion”. He said it is “building a healthier future for everyone, not just those within the hospital walls”.

Mr Garlington said: “This has been genuinely transformative. Instead of being tucked away behind hospital walls, we’re now right at the heart of a vibrant community. Staff can grab lunch at a local café, patients can take a walk through the park or pop into a shop. It’s small things like these that help break down the stigma around mental health. Our patients and their carers are no longer cut off from everyday life.”