When the Middlesex County Pauper Lunatic Asylum opened in 1851 at Colney Hatch north of London, it was the largest institution of its kind in the world, with 1,250 beds and more than six miles of corridors. Its architect, Samuel Whitfleld Daukes, was advised by John Conolly, England's Asylum Superintendent, an influential figure who initiated the ambitious expansion of asylum provision during the mid 19th century. Motivated by the example of French reformers, it was Conolly who advanced the idea of a more humane treatment for those afflicted by mental disorders. Rather than perpetuate existing barbaric regimes of restraint and confinement, Connolly saw the architecture of the asylum itself as a 'persuasive institution' in helping to heal wounded minds.
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