Avita Community Partners New Behavioral Health Crisis Center in Gainesville

Located off of Old Cornelia Highway in Gainesville, Georgia, this new 28,000 SF mental health crisis center replaces an existing and aging center in Flowery Branch, GA. The new center includes a state-of-the-art peer living room, 24-hour walk-in crisis center, a 23-hour temporary observation unit with 15 beds and a crisis stabilization unit with 30 beds – six of which are reserved for those with developmental disabilities in crisis.

The center provides an alternative for behavioral health crisis, serving regional mental health patients with three distinct treatment levels. A walk-in, walk-out area serves patients who may need minor counseling, along with a 23-hour observation area and an access-controlled Crisis Stabilization Unit, where patients can be held for up to six days to manage their mental health. Complexities in this facility range from comprehensive anti-ligature design components, weighted furniture and glass alternatives to coordinated access control and security monitoring components.

Interiors feature calming tones and details.  Sealed windows use frosting allow for safety and privacy but also natural light to enter rooms. An outdoor pavilion features a nature-themed mural covering the chain link fence. A soothing blue and grey color palette flows through the building, touching on wooden accents.

The construction was made possible by a combination of Avita Community Partners’ capital reserves and a $9.8M GA Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD) grant from the State of Georgia funded by the general assembly.

Winter Construction served as the CM-at-Risk on the project which reached completion in the June of 2021.

Hussey Gay Bell provided programming, full architectural design, interiors, permitting and construction phase services.