Healthcare to Humancare: The Process to Rehabilitation

New imperatives are currently challenging the historic concept of the public hospital, yet its architectural environment remains rooted in a reductive and alienating building infrastructure. More often than not, the repercussions of a person’s medical diagnosis are caused by insufficient medical facilities and rehabilitation services provided by healthcare architecture, rather than by the condition itself. The current architecture creates sterile and isolating environments, confirming the disconnect patients have felt while describing their physical and social environments while in the hospital. As the aesthetics of a space and its outlook can have a quantitative impact on a person’s well-being and recovery, it becomes increasingly difficult for patients to remain hopeful about their recovery while living in a sterile hospital setting. This thesis then goes on to examine ‘how can medical architecture adopt a holistic approach to rehabilitation in order to improve the normalcy of a patient’s hospitalised experience?

This research investigation aims to present a new healthcare model that enhances the rehabilitation process by creating a physical and social environment that supports the holistic well-being of patients and their support networks. To achieve this, an alternative model that establishes a closer connection between people and place, domesticates the lived experience of patients in hospital, and enhances the holistic performance of rehabilitation services is examined. This thesis looks to effectively re-design Kenepuru Hospital in Porirua, Wellington, with the purpose of demonstrating how architectural form, programme, and therapeutic environment can be strategically interwoven to enhance the rehabilitative process and performance of patients in hospital.