Incorporating Residential Design Elements Into Heathcare Facilities

An increasing amount of evidence is being released to support the theory that patients heal faster in environments in which they feel most comfortable. One of the best ways to promote comfort in a heathcare facility among patients, family, and staff is to design an environment that feels natural to everyone involved. People tend to feel most natural and comfortable in their homes, thus an extremely effective way to make a facility feel most natural is to incorporate residential design elements.

Informal lounges and café areas strategically sprinkled throughout a facility can help break up the monotony of a typical hospital layout. These casual areas give visitors a place to relax to check their emails or make a call. Oftentimes, family members and friends of a patient will stay several days with the patient, and these areas can help give a much needed psychological release.

Improvements in building material technology for healthcare application have expanded architects' horizons in choosing materials. Textures and materials that were once not suitable for healthcare use because they didn't meet the strict sanitation requirement have now been optimized for utilization in heathcare facilities. In most cases, not only have these materials been made available for healthcare use, but they provide a net improvement in sanitation and infection control when compared to the outdated materials.

Use of color and light are also two major factors when implementing residential design elements into healthcare facilities. A typical hospital has dull, monotonous lighting which can promote feelings of fear and/or discomfort. This problem can be easily fixed by combining more natural light sources with non-florescent, direct, and indirect task lighting to create ideal lighting conditions. Color choices that provoke feelings of comfort can be chosen to further improve the patient experience. Use of wood grains with a combination of warm and cool colors will help patients feel most at home.

One of the best parts of incorporating residential design elements into healthcare design is that does not require building a brand new facility. Residential design can be incorporated into an existing facility through a simple redesign, thus saving money and time.