O nce state-of-the-art mental healthcare facilities, Kirkbride buildings have long been relics of an obsolete therapeutic method known as Moral Treatment. In the latter half of the 19th century, these massive structures were conceived as ideal sanctuaries for the mentally ill and as an active participent in their recovery.

The asylums built in the Kirkbride design, often referred to as Kirkbride Buildings (or simply Kirkbrides), were constructed during the mid-to-late-19th century in the United States. The structural features of the hospitals as designated by Kirkbride were contingent on his theories regarding the healing of the mentally ill, in which environment ...

Lists of Kirkbride buildings including links to photographs of individual buildings documented by KirkbrideBuildings.com

Learn more about the history of individual Kirkbride institutions and see photographs of these haunting buildings at the buildings page.

PreservationWorks is an advocacy network committed to the preservation and adaptive reuse of the few remaining Kirkbride asylum buildings across the USA. Restoration of these irreplaceable buildings is commonsense and achievable, supporting economic and cultural growth in the communities they have proudly served.

Apr 13, 2019 · Kirkbride Plan buildings tended to become large, imposing, Victorian-era institutions, between 3-5 stories tall, built on large extensively manicured grounds which often included farmland. Opening on may 15, 1848, the Trenton State Hospital in New Jersey became the first hospital built following the kirkbride plan.

Oct 8, 2019 · Dr. Kirkbride’s book is highly specific, even recommending particular building materials and colors of paint, strategies for how to avoid vermin and other sources of potentially bad odors, and descriptions of the ideal character and demeanor of the staff.

building as a cure. During our historical tours, hear about Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride’s theory on what he referred to as the “moral treatment” of the insane, a constructive idea unique to the United States, for mental asylums from the mid to late 19th century.

Jun 3, 2021 · The Kirkbride Plan was a system of mental asylum design advocated by Philadelphia psychiatrist Thomas Story Kirkbride (1809-1883) in the mid-19th century. The asylums built in the Kirkbride design, often referred to as Kirkbride Buildings (or simply Kirkbrides), were constructed during the mid-to-late-19th century in the United States.

Oct 30, 2015 · Many Kirkbride Plan facilities have since been demolished, but at least forty remain. Once shameful and secret, these asylums are revamping community pride and local economies, as architects ...

One of several Kirkbride buildings constructed in Michigan, Traverse City is the last in existence. Today the hospital's Kirkbride sits within a large complex of buildings. Various cottages and other structures of different sizes surround it.

Kirkbride buildings are most recognizably characterized by their somewhat unique "bat wing" floorplan and their often lavish Victorian-era architecture. Their design was an attempt at creating a space to facilitate the return to sanity.

Images of the Jacksonville State Hospital Kirkbride building and a brief history of the institution.

Although Kirkbride has been remembered as a pioneer of moral treatment, the perception of his buildings has evolved in the past 150 years. They were meant to project a sense of civic pride and generosity, but they were too ornate and wasteful (Yanni, 2007, p. 1, 151).

Apr 17, 2019 · The Kirkbride-design asylums were built from 1848 to the end of the nineteenth century. Their structural characteristics were subordinated to a certain approach to moral management: exposure to natural light, beautiful views and good air circulation.

Apr 9, 2008 · Kirkbride persuaded dozens of hospital administrators and architects to create secluded, freestanding asylums with long “batwing” wards flanking central offices to maximize staffs' observation opportunities and patients' access to fresh air and sunlight.

Apr 6, 2011 · Psychiatric studies and literature of the era focused on the importance of architecture in the treatment of the insane, and some 100 massive mental health facilities were constructed in the United...

That is, of course, the Retreat’s main building which I would call a Kirkbride (albeit a small and unimpressive one). But notice that the drawing is dated 1844 — a few years before the widely accepted “first Kirkbride building” was designed and built in Trenton, New Jersey!

May 14, 2020 · Stakeholders of the new hospital hired Nathaniel Bradlee, a Boston architect to design the Victorian Gothic main building and some later outbuildings. Bradlee employed the Kirkbride Plan, a system of mental asylum design advocated by Philadelphia psychiatrist Thomas Story Kirkbride (1809–1883) in the mid-19th century, which advocated for air ...

Photographs of the Danvers State Hospital Kirkbride building and a brief history of the institution.