BIOPHILIC DESIGN PATTERNS AS TOOLS FOR ENHANCING PATIENTS’ HEALING AND PSYCHOLOGICAL RECOVERY IN THE DESIGN OF NATIONAL CANCER HOSPITAL, ABUJA

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Author

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Department of Environmental Design

ABSTRACT
In 2014, the World Health Organization in Nigeria recorded 150,000 new cancer cases with an estimated mortality rate of about 80,000. Even with this frightening statistic, there are few cancer clinics and only 11 cancer registries which are located in various teaching hospitals in different parts of the country. These facilities were approached using a generic design as such the psychosocial needs of the cancer patients were not considered during the planning stage. As such, this thesis aims at developing a framework for the integration of biophilic design patterns in the design of cancer hospital, thereby creating a connection between life, nature and the built environment which evolve architecture that can positively contribute to the healing and psychological recovery of cancer patients. Based on existing literature correlating biophilic design patterns and biological responses, strategies for the integration of biophilic design patterns were developed based on three broad patterns of biophilic design namely; Nature in the space, Natural analogues and Nature of the space. These strategies provided a design guideline on how to maintain a connection with natural world into a healthcare setting. The research type is exploratory and encompasses both the qualitative and quantitative tradition in methods of data collection through case studies and interviews. In order to check how these strategies were adopted in the design of existing cancer hospitals, five cases were explored; two local and three foreign. The local cases are; Oncology Department, National Hospital Abuja, Nigeria and Oncology Department, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shika, Nigeria. The foreign cases are: Frauenshuh cancer centre, United States, Windsor regional cancer centre, Canada and Helen F. Graham cancer centre, United States. The result shows that across all the cases studied, Nature in the space patterns were applied the most with the average score of 3.1 out of a total of 4, followed by Nature of the space patterns with the score of 2.6 Natural analogues patterns have the least score of 2.4. A synthesis of the knowledge gained through the review of related literature, the cases studied and site analysis conducted formed an articulated design framework to accomplish an ultimate goal of creating a biophilic cancer hospital, in Abuja, Nigeria. This architecture provides patients battling with cancer an environment that is inspiring, invigorative and places with soothing ambiance to reduce their cognitive and psychological stress.