The building complex of the former Psychiatric Hospital located in the district of Quarto, east of the city, is accessible from Via G. Maggio, connected to the main road network of Corso Europa and Via A. Carrara. The construction of the first building, today referred to as the "Old Institute", was entrusted to the architect Antonio Canetti and completed in 1893; at the entrance of the structure, outside it, two small buildings were built for the residence of the health director and the hospital bursar. Subsequently, in order to enlarge the structure, Villa Spinola was purchased and immediately demolished to make room for the construction of the so-called "Nuovo Istituto" and the Casa delle Infermiere (nurses' home), both completed in 1933. 

The building typology adopted in the original project, now almost unchanged, is based on the use of large spaces, free from load-bearing structures. 

The entire complex, now divided into three different properties, ARTE, ASL3 and CDP Immobiliare, is divided into various buildings in the neo-classical style, among which the so-called "Old Institute" and "New Institute", the residential buildings (now called ex SERT and ex CAUP), the so-called "Casa delle Infermiere" (recently renovated for guest quarters), the monumental concierge on Via G. May, a recently built office building, and another smaller building that housed the forensic medicine clinics (building C) are recognisable.

The Old Institute consists of a square-plan citadel symmetrically divided into nine parts, also square. Each part consists of a large courtyard with plants bordered by buildings on all sides; the internal east-west and north-south paths are mainly portico and always perpendicular to each other. The buildings that make up the complex of the Old Institute, divided into twenty-two pavilions, are generally in load-bearing masonry, on two floors above ground with pitched roofing in Marseille tiles (hence the pseudonym "red roofs"). The New Institute has three floors above ground in addition to one floor partially underground.

The complex includes smaller buildings and service buildings and large driveway and parking areas.

The green spaces are schematically divided into three zones: the gardens and the avenues leading to the pavilions, a partly level area with trees located to the south and a steep wooded area located on the north-north-west side.

In Sector 2 the following are planned, as a result of the PUO adopted, expansion work of the current size: the 7,017 sqm of buildings in 6,648 sqm to be used as residences, 1,089.49 sqm for shops, 2,445.66 sqm for garages and 1,315 sqm as cellars; 9,752 sqm of land in 10,726 sqm.

Currently the building is vacant, with the exception of Pavilions 7, 8 and 10 that are occupied by ASL 3.