Reflections on the year that has been.
It’s January 2022. We made it…You made it.
The past 2 years were, for many, a truly tumultuous time full of uncertainty, isolation and never before navigated challenges. There is, therefore, necessity to take a breath, acknowledge the turning of a page and what it took for many of us to get here. 2022 is, as yet, unwritten and it is my wish that, at least that in some small way, it will be a quieter story and a gentler one. Perhaps that was the purpose of 2021; to draw us back to ourselves, remind us of the simplicity of our basic needs and the needs of the world around us. The necessity for connection, warmth, empathy, gentleness and perhaps most pertinent of all, to remind us of the inextricable value of our health.
The media attention has felt heavy but, the past 2 years have also seen a huge shift in people’s appreciation for the outdoors and the mental and physical relief nature has brought during an extraordinarily difficult time. This shift to connecting with nature echoes our studio ethos and the responsibility design has to meet the health and environmental needs of the end user.
From a healthcare perspective, more and more services are beginning to recognise the intrinsic link between mental and physical health and design consideration of mental health factors into physical health care facilities is beginning to occur.
One such facility is New Fairhaven’s Hospice. Completed in Spring 2020 it provides palliative care services to patients across South Essex. Studio 31 were privileged to design the landscape and were part of an extraordinary project team who understood the impact of landscape on health and the value of nature as part of the therapeutic and support services the hospice could offer.
Early collaboration led to truly landscape focused solutions such as access to semi-private outdoor space designed into each of the 16 in patient rooms. This allows patients to literally spend their days outside if they choose to without the need to travel through communal spaces. It also creates an important indoor-outdoor connection which is rarely found in inpatient settings. Research led us to design a variety of outdoor spaces which met the host of health needs of the users; supporting emotional wellbeing of staff and families as well as patients. These included spaces of refuge for quiet contemplation and social spaces for support and connection. There was heavy focus on behavioural design elements which are often one of the main barriers to connection with nature and are frequently missed in relation to health design. ‘Health design’ is more than just designing a healthy landscape. It is designing buildings, transitional spaces and landscapes themselves in such a way as people use them often, without effort and for the purpose they are intended. The connections between indoor and outdoor that the hospice promotes were designed to encourage engagement with the landscape, not just occasionally, but regularly in the day to day lives of the patients, families and staff.
This regular connection with nature is something we have seen growing throughout the wider population in the past 24 months. It is my hope that this has enabled people to begin to understand the positive impacts of nature on their health and begin to find ways to bring nature into their daily routine.
This year may, as yet be unwritten but hopefully nature can be part of the next chapter.
Head here to watch a video of our New Fairhaven Project.
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This article can also be read in Prolandscaper Magazine.