New chapter begins as Pears Maudsley Centre for Children and Young People prepares to open
New chapter begins as Pears Maudsley Centre for Children and Young People prepares to open.
From May, South London and Maudsley’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health outpatient services and The Maudsley and Bethlem Hospital School will take up residence in the brand-new building on the Maudsley Hospital campus in Denmark Hill, south London.
Designed with young people, the Pears Maudsley Centre is a vibrant and welcoming space cleverly uses light, outdoor space, artwork and soft furnishings to help ease anxiety.
It is a place that makes things feel brighter, welcomes visitors and meets their diverse needs. Its design maximises natural light and incorporates dimmable lighting, artwork and natural materials to create a calming environment. It has landscaped outdoor terraces with extensive planting on each of its eight floors — capped by a roof terrace for use by children and young people using the centre’s services. This provides the calming, relaxing spaces difficult to achieve in a traditional inner-city hospital building.
There are also specially designed spaces for the outstanding school to allow young people receiving care to continue their education.
Art rooms, spaces for cooking and horticulture therapy, external terraces with outdoor play and tailored learning spaces contribute to a modern, community-minded space, redefining what mental health services look and feel like.
Later this year a new inpatient ward will open offering world-class facilities and a therapeutic environment to help young people on their journey to recovery.
The centre has been made possible thanks to a £10m donation from Maudsley Charity alongside the incredible generosity of major donors, foundations, and individual supporters.
King’s Maudsley Partnership
The building will also be home to the King’s Maudsley Partnership for Children and Young People, a unique collaboration between the Trust’s specialist clinicians and leading academics at King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience - supported by Maudsley Charity – focused on improving the lives of children and young people living with mental health conditions and neurodiversity.
The final stages of work are underway on the new building’s state-of-the-art clinical research facility. When completed later this year, clinical academics and scientists from King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience will join clinical colleagues in the Pears Maudsley Centre and work together to deliver groundbreaking research. Using the latest evidence and innovations made possible by the building’s specialist facilities, the King’s Maudsley Partnership will support clinical teams to deliver the best possible care, improving both the quality and efficiency of mental health services, and translating research into practical treatments to benefit young people in the shortest possible time.
South London and Maudsley Modernisation Programme
The new Pears Maudsley Centre is part of the Trust’s £186m programme.
Next door to the Pears Maudsley Centre in Denmark Hill is New Douglas Bennett House. Opening in 2026, it will be the new home for the adult inpatient wards currently at Lambeth Hospital as well as the Eating Disorder Unit and Neuropsychiatry Unit, currently at the Bethlem Royal Hospital. New Douglas Bennett House is a modern and improved environment for service users to recover and staff to deliver the best care possible.
The Trust’s investment in modernising its facilities has been made possible through the sale of surplus estate at Lambeth Hospital which will be redeveloped into a new neighbourhood with a blend of affordable and private rental homes, new amenities and carefully designed public realm.
