outdoor spaces


Designing gardens for healing and health


In this article, newly-published research from Australia reveals the positive impact of landscaping and access to nature in healthcare settings


T


he concepts of biophilic and people-centred design to help improve the quality of healthcare


and patient outcomes around the world is one step closer to being realised, thanks to new research carried out in Australia. The recently-published paper,


Normalcy in healthcare design: An extension of the natural and built environment, outlines the case for gardens in healthcare settings. Co-authored by Conrad Gargett


principal landscape architect, Katharina Nieberler-Walker, in partnership with Griffith University and QUT, the paper was highly commended for ‘Design Research’ at the 2017 European Healthcare Design Awards. It explored how the inclusion of


gardens and green spaces in healthcare facilities can reduce stress for staff, patients and their families, while helping to expedite recovery times for patients by ‘normalising’ hospital environments.


Rehabilitation The focus of the research was 11 ‘healing’ gardens at the Conrad Gargett landscape-designed Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital (LCCH) in Brisbane, Australia. The design of each garden drew


extensively on emergent evidence- based findings about the therapeutic and sustainability properties of integrated gardens. Nieberler-Walker was involved in the


design process from the initial design and believes the role of green infrastructure in hospital buildings in promoting normalising environments is a topic not yet fully investigated. “The definition of a healing garden is


generally agreed to be a nature- oriented space designed to provide restorative, therapeutic or rehabilitative potential,” she said. “In this research, we explored and


expanded upon, various design considerations for reducing stress and confusion, as well as providing a sense of normalcy in what can be a very challenging time for patients, patient families and staff.


Evidence base “Preliminary evaluation of the LCCH healing gardens provides much-needed evidence of design considerations for healing gardens that contribute to both their ability to improve patient experiences and wellbeing, as well as the sustainability of these spaces.” Incorporating healing gardens into


healthcare settings is an example of biophilic design, which could loosely be described as nature informing the function of architecture. In healthcare, biophilic design inserts


gardens, or nature, into clinical spaces to create a sense of ‘being away’ from the hospital. According to Nieberler-Walker,


having 11 gardens throughout the children’s hospital offered various opportunities to access nature as well as natural light, while allowing time away in nature to help re-establish a patient’s capacity to pay attention. “While interest in, and the inclusion


of, gardens in hospitals is increasing, there still remain few examples of rigorously-researched and evaluated healing gardens that contribute to patient experiences and wellbeing,” she added.


www.conradgargett.com.au healthcaredm.co.uk 53 in brief


• Grow your own! Ground Control has donated soil, wood sleepers and gardening tools to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital’s ‘Grow Your Own’ initiative, which aims to enhance the natural environment and empower the local community to interact with nature. The donations will help people to plant and grow organic ingredients on the hospital site which will then be used in patient meals. The idea is to reduce food mileage and ensure patients have a healthy diet promoting recovery.


www.ground-control.co.uk


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