The role of courtyards and other outdoor spaces in the recovery of acute mental healthcare users has been gaining international appreciation and recognition. However, the physical properties and conditions necessary for therapeutic and rehabilitative engagement remain to be clearly established. This paper contributes to that knowledge by triangulating evidence from the literature, exemplar case studies of good practice and first-hand accounts of the experiences of staff and service users from four acute mental health facilities. The findings are then aligned with a well-established recovery framework (CHIMES) in light of existing landscape architecture knowledge. Within the complexity of varied mental health environments, this work establishes landscape architectural design requirements and qualities essential for recovery. Rather than adopting a prescriptive quantitative approach setting out areas, numbers of elements, etc., the proposed framework recommends a performance-based model and the creation of a cohesive network of microspaces that mesh into a design of outdoor areas. In this way, design details, materials, vegetation and the variety of spaces can be modified to suit service user population demographics and site-specific needs.
Keywords: acute mental health; confinement; courtyard design; incarceration; mental health and wellbeing; therapeutic environments.