Trends

Healthcare Design’s monthly Online Focus feature compiles recent coverage on targeted topics to help readers quickly get up to speed on pressing issues or refresh themselves on latest trends. For May, we look at recent coverage of biophilia and nature-driven design.

Research has long proven that providing patients access to views of nature and natural light improves outcomes, length of stay, and satisfaction. The benefits of introducing nature to healthcare environments don’t stop there, either, with staff and families also positively impacted by elements of the outdoors—especially in reducing stress.

Solutions run the gamut, with daylighting and natural tones and finishes key elements of any new project today, while providing opportunities for a breath of fresh air through courtyards, gardens, rooftop terraces, and even the occasional balcony or operable window are being introduced, as well.

Click on the links below to explore recent projects and trend stories that illustrate how to successfully introduce natural elements into a healthcare project.

• House Of Glass: The Chihuly Sanctuary At The Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center
  The Chihuly Sanctuary offers patients and staff a place for inspiration and rejuvenation at the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center in Omaha, Neb.
• Breath Of Fresh Air: Ng Teng Fong General Hospital And Jurong Community Hospital
  Touting natural ventilation, operable windows, and an energy use rate 69 percent lower than the average U.S. hospital, Ng Teng Fong General Hospital and Jurong Community Hospital push the boundaries of sustainable design in healthcare.
• PHOTO TOUR: Valley Health Cancer Center
  The center’s architectural identity underscores a holistic approach to care and comfort that places the patients first.
• PHOTO TOUR: Yale New Haven Health Park Avenue Medical Center
  Take a visual walk through Yale New Haven Health’s Park Avenue Medical Center in Trumbull, Conn., opened in May.
• Natural Remedy: Biophilic Design Supports Behavioral Health
  The use of biophilic design in behavioral healthcare settings can contribute to creating the calming environment patients require, as seen in the renovation of the Swedish Ballard Behavioral Health Unit in Seattle.
• PHOTO TOUR: Memorial Sloan Kettering Monmouth
  Memorial Sloan Kettering took a former suburban office building in New Jersey and turned it into its latest cancer care center.
• Take 5 With Thomas Knittel
  The design principal for HDR discusses the top five trends and issues getting his attention right now.
• All Together Now: Cancer Care Trend Report
  Healthcare Design looks inside recent cancer care projects that captured our attention over the past year, serving as ambitious examples of how to deliver on goals to lessen patient stress and fatigue, often via the consolidation of services.
• PHOTO TOUR: Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation
  The newest addition to addiction treatment center Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation in St. Paul, Minn., pulls design cues from an 1880s mansion.
• Built To Serve: Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center
  At nearly 1 million square feet, Fort Hood’s Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center has the size, scope, and amenities to support its military community now and into the future.