Curved lines, cosy vibes: Designing safe spaces for youth mental health

The Straits Times, Curved lines, cosy vibes: Designing safe spaces for youth mental health

• Singapore is designing inclusive spaces for youth mental health and special needs, like grovve and revamped Chat, to reduce stigma and sensory overload.
• grovve, opening in November 2025 at *Scape, uses a “no wrong door” approach with wellness guides and tailored entry points to support various mental health needs.
• Spaces like Chat and Minds Towner Gardens School are redesigned to mimic home environments, promoting comfort, reducing anxiety, and teaching practical skills for daily living.

Designing spaces for youth mental health or special needs is taking off in Singapore.

In the last two years, several such venues have been built or renovated.

Choosing designs with curved lines, decompression areas and soft furnishings is intended to better support a range of often-invisible needs, in part by reducing sensory overload. Emphasis is placed on reducing stigma and encouraging help-seeking when it comes to mental health. Experts add that embracing inclusivity is also a priority.

On the fourth floor of the *Scape building in Orchard Road, grovve, a wellness space for young people, will officially open on Nov 1, catering to those aged 13 to 25, as well as their caregivers. An initiative of the National Council of Social Service, grovve is open to the public.

Next to grovve and linked by a connecting door is Chat – Centre of Excellence for Youth Mental Health, which caters to people aged 16 to 30.

It was established by the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) in 2009. Chat, formerly located on the fifth storey of *Scape, relocated to the fourth level in October 2023, unveiling a new look based on user feedback.

*Scape will be relaunched in November with more dedicated spaces for young people, including dance spaces and cafes. Set up in 2007, the youth-centric hub in Orchard Link has been revamped in recent years as part of the rejuvenation of the Somerset Belt.

Welcoming and non-stigmatising

Occupying 720 sq m, grovve is designed with a “no wrong door” concept to make it “welcoming and non-stigmatising”, says Mr Lee Seng Meng, 45, executive director at Shine Children & Youth Services, a leading social service agency at grovve.

At the entrance, youth are greeted and guided by a wellness concierge, known as a grovve guide, through four different entry points tailored to various mental health needs from the outset, with no need to book appointments elsewhere or at another time.

Visitors who are unlikely to experience distress will be directed to staff at Shine. Others who display mild signs of psychological distress will be attended to at Brahm Centre, a mental health charity which also has a presence at grovve.

Persons with moderate signs of psychological distress can seek help from staff linked to Touch Community Services, while those facing pressing mental health challenges will be directed to IMH.

Ms Feranda Chua, 28, an architectural designer at experiential design firm Wy-To, who worked on grovve, adds: “You cannot tell whether anyone coming here is a casual visitor or someone with specific mental health needs.”

Not like a polyclinic

The conceptualisation of grovve, which took about two years, involved a great deal of youth feedback, stakeholder representatives say.

Ms Chua says: “The youth didn’t want a place that reminded them of a hospital or polyclinic. They wanted a comfortable third space and such spaces are fewer now.”

The concept of a “third place”, often used interchangeably with the term “third space”, refers to informal public spaces that foster community and encourage connections outside the home (the first place) and workplace or school (the second place).

The desire not to evoke institutional settings extends to the lack of corridors leading only to specific rooms like a counsellor’s office.

Ms Tan Qian Rou, 35, a senior associate at multidisciplinary design studio Farm, who also worked on grovve, says: “In such corridors, everyone knows what visitors are there for.”

Instead, there are plenty of curved lines and paths, with no sharp corners and a sense of “continuous circulation” at grovve, where different areas can be configured according to user needs, encouraging “a sense of agency”, she adds. The pathways are wide enough to accommodate persons using wheelchairs.

Visitors can move furniture around according to what they want to do, whether it is to hang out, make crafts, take photos, write notes, grab snacks and drinks, study or attend talks and workshops.

An inviting sense of comfort is conveyed through the soft lighting and rounded sofas and tables in counselling rooms named after plants like ginger and sage, which have healing properties.

Sensory overload can also be reduced at two decompression pods, where users can listen to soothing music or handle fidget toys, says Ms Tan.

Familiarity of home

Next door to grovve, mental health service hub Chat has also had a revamp based on evolving feedback from its young users.

Over the years, while the priority was to create a safe space at Chat – where young people could relax, play games or seek mental health support – the user profile changed, says Chat programme lead Lee Yi Ping, 44.

She says: “We began to see a shift in the landscape, where there was a rise in referrals to access Chat’s mental health assessments. Our old space at level five was no longer working for these help-seeking young people, who might experience a heightened self-consciousness when they see a crowded space with casual visitors laughing and talking.”

A consistent theme in the youth feedback was that the large counter that took pride of place at Chat then, manned by two mental health professionals, was intimidating and that those seeking help felt “watched”, says Ms Lee.

In late 2023, when Chat moved to the fourth floor of *Scape, the counter was jettisoned. Now, the main door opens to a lounge with a sofa set, filled with reading materials and refreshments.

“The idea was to simulate a living room as this space is about the size of a five-room HDB flat,” says Ms Lee.

Tertiary student Clarissa (not her real name) approves. The regular visitor at Chat, who is in her 20s, says: “I like this space. It feels safe and is a space where you can seek help from. The furniture makes it feel like you’re at home.”

Classroom like an HDB flat

The impression of domestic familiarity benefits the students at Minds Towner Gardens School in Kembangan, according to Ms Jennifer Loh, the special education school’s vice-principal.

Students here have intellectual disabilities and some also have conditions such as autism or Down syndrome. They range in age from seven to 18.

A classroom was renovated at the end of 2024 to mimic an HDB flat, says Ms Loh. It is furnished with fittings like a bed, coffee table, television set, clothes rack and a small kitchen.

“It’s relatable and the students learn daily living skills like folding and hanging the laundry, sweeping the floor and making the bed,” she says. “Our students need hands-on experience to apply these skills to their own home setting.”

Other design elements at the school include a padded soft-play room for physical education, which can be used by students who might hurt themselves with repetitive motions against hard surfaces; a therapy room with a hammock and a ball pit that provide sensory comfort; and lines painted on the floor outside the school lift to simulate the queue markings at MRT stations, to prompt students to queue to take the train.

Sensitive design can benefit many

Professor-of-practice Khoo Peng Beng at the Singapore University of Technology and Design, the award-winning architect who led The Pinnacle@Duxton residential project, says design choices can benefit users with different needs.

He adds: “The design of spaces can reduce sensory input. We can create a space where people do not feel the additional burden of environment stressors, for example.”

This could mean reducing loud noises, or avoiding harsh fluorescent lighting, which is discomforting for persons with autism.

Prof Khoo says that intentionally designed spaces are not enough to promote inclusivity. “Having a culture of hospitality, acceptance and compassion develop around the space is as important as the space itself.”