Lookbook: Humanizing Healthcare WG Design Studio

Sensory Appeal & Stimulation

• There is an increasing trend toward the use of bright, optimistic color palettes that are easier for the aging eye to perceive, enhance the purpose of a specific space, and can improve the mood and overall wellness of residents.
• Upbeat color palettes help residents engage all of their senses to navigate their environments.
• While contrasting colors create visual changes that help distinguish one space from another, non-glare finishes play a role in keeping residents safe and secure.
• Examples of these trending colors include chartreuse, citron, mustard yellow, mango, magenta, turquoise, and lime.

Cohesive Bonds

• Awareness of medical staff and their spatial needs is at the forefront of healthcare design.
• To combat crowded workspaces and growing competition for offices, conference rooms, or countertops at the nurses’ station, healthcare facilities are turning to designers to deliver appealing work areas that can help retain staff, support employee well-being, and improve operations, driving a new conversation between healthcare clients and their design and architecture partners.
• For inspiration, healthcare administrators are looking to corporate amenities, and integrating facilities to improve employee health and wellness while at work, such as: pods to decompress and make phone calls; spaces for holding effective meetings with large staff; wellness areas that encourage exercise and active living; outdoor gardens or places to connect with colleagues.

Nature & Wellness

• Biophilic research teaches us of the intense need of living beings—humans, animals, and plants—to dwell in proximity to each other. It follows that there is a strong correlation between nature and wellness.
• Natural elements that promote well-being in the built environment include trees, diverse vegetation, local biodiversity, water features, parks, natural playscapes, and community gardens.
• Research has shown that a hospital room that has a window that looks out toward nature increases a patient’s happiness and expedites their healing time.
• Examples of this color palette include mauve, lavender, periwinkle, cool blushes, dark teal, jade, evergreen, sky blue, light seafoam, light green, sage, taupe, light and dark brown, burnt sienna and warm grays.