ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on users' experiences of the space and built environment of two child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) outpatient spaces situated in different towns in the UK. While adult asylum settings are quite different from children's settings, there remain synergies regarding the highly symbolic and emotional investments in the built environment that are worth exploring. Children and young people's perspectives on their experiences of internal spaces are relatively rare. The desire from the children for a more 'homely' or comforting space sat in direct conflict with the therapeutic needs of some of the staff and may explain the very functional and 'adult-like' approach within the clinics. It was the parents attending clinic appointments with their children who were particularly concerned with the reception window. In adult mental health settings, particularly inpatient settings, the emotional meanings invested in the building are a great challenge to developing a sense of 'homeliness'.
