Design Guidelines through the morphology of Transient Spaces in Healthcare Facilities

Abstract

Transient space, as a programmatic element, is a major design driver of all healthcare facilities. Society today is currently reassessing the influence of transient space design onto the holistic healing process for it contains a notable portion of health qualities that the current physical assessment does not support, which in turn does not support the complete regenerative health of healthcare patients. Therefore the advancement of transient space design is critical in progressing the current healthcare treatment system. This dissertation investigates the intertwining relationships between architectural design attributes and human health. With a specific focus on healthcare facilities, the morphology of transient spaces is explored to formulate a new design strategy for creating healing environments. The project goal is to formulate an architectural design guideline on how to improve the healing quality of transient spaces in healthcare facilities. The guidelines have been derived from the results of various environmental, psychological, and medical studies that have outlined an environmental relationship to human health. Additional recommendations have been made from professionals in the field of architecture, medicine, and psychology whom have extensive experience working with the related material or research area. The design guidelines are formulated to offer clear design translations of how to implement and approach creating a healing environment. A comprehensive design guideline booklet covering the three main aspects of health in human beings (physiology, psychology, and identity) is linked with built examples to offer clear design initiatives and implementations for improving health through architectural design. Accordingly, the guidelines create an easy reference for design professionals to help increase the number of evidence-based design practices in the world of architecture, planning, and healthcare.