Abstract
This paper explores the building design of a Habilitation Center that promotes healthy lifestyles of people with diverse abilities. Habilitation care moves the focus of healthcare from a disease curing approach to lifelong health development. Studies show that the design of healthcare buildings can contribute to improving care and by extension, it is expected that building design can contribute to improving habilitation care. However, in practice, there is limited experience in designing habilitation facilities, particularly concerning emerging healthcare approaches such as health promotion. This paper describes the outcomes of a master thesis that was part of a pre-study for a habilitation center that focused on design strategies and solutions that stimulate physical activity for diverse users. The main research question was : In what way can building design promote active behavior for all types of building users? The study adopted a research by design approach focused on (1) understanding user needs, (2) developing design strategies, and (3) proposing a design solution. The results list several design strategies for habilitation buildings and propose how these can be implemented. These guidelines include strategies for physical movement such as indoor and outdoor exercise areas, climbing walls and access to nature. These results may support the development of the new habilitation center, while also introducing theoretical ideas and design guidelines regarding active design. The study can be used to inspire and discuss the design and development of habilitation centers specifically, and more generally healthcare buildings that adopt new care approaches such as health promotion.
Highlights
This paper is based upon a master thesis in architecture which was part of a pre-study for the planning and design of a habilitation center in Uppsala, Sweden [1]
The study contains several subquestions: What are the needs that should be incorporated in the design of the Habilitation Centre? Which design strategies can support active design for people with diverse abilities? How can these design guidelines be translated into a design proposal? The study contained multiple iterative stages: (1) identify user needs; (2) develop design guidelines; (3) develop a design proposal
From the collected data several needs came forward regarding the design of the new habilitation center:
Summary
This paper is based upon a master thesis in architecture which was part of a pre-study for the planning and design of a habilitation center in Uppsala, Sweden [1]. The premises of the paper are that when designing habilitation centers focus must be placed on the role of a built environment that stimulates physical activity and social interaction while considering the diverse needs and abilities of people. Building design with attention for diverse users who need walking support, who use wheelchairs, or are visually impaired. This design focus on attention to diverse needs has been called Inclusive or Universal Design [12]. Inclusive Design refers to solutions that consider the vulnerable population, while Universal Design aims to focus on making the design useable for everybody [12]
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
More From: IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.