The New York State Office of Mental Health

Bronx Behavioral Health Campus

The New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH)

Project: Bronx Behavioral Campus, Office of Mental Health 

DASNY’s Role: Designed and constructed by DASNY ($350 million)  

Details: Spread over six buildings and more than 436,000 square feet, the Bronx Behavioral Campus provides a range of mental health care. The inpatient buildings feature secure indoor and outdoor recreation areas, cutting-edge electronic monitoring technologies, motivational education settings and comfortable living quarters. 

The design was approached with great care. Over its five years of development, teams of designers visited behavioral health facilities across the nation, bringing back the best ideas and incorporating them into the Bronx campus. 

Patients can progress to a residential village, which expands the availability of much-needed supported, transitional and crisis housing. The village houses three OMH residential programs. 

Impact: The campus is a model for using design and structure to transform mental health care from the long hospital stays that were the norm when the Bronx Psychiatric Center was first built in 1963. Today’s modern facilities focus their attention on transitioning patients back to the community as part of a continuum of care. 

The facility is integrated into the community, transforming it from a secluded campus. Adjacent to the campus is a recently constructed Residence Inn and Applebee’s Restaurant to provide visiting family members with lodging and dining options. New baseball and soccer fields were constructed for public use. Land not being used for the new campus was privately developed to bring facilities needed by the surrounding community, including shops, restaurants and offices.