The renaissance of hospital green spaces
Gardens are coming back in the UK and worldwide
The importance of green spaces in the design of hospitals will be showcased at the Royal Horticultural Society Flower Show at Tatton Park next month.
“Slow Down, Breathe Deep” designed by Alex Pettitt at Topoforma highlights the value of a space for NHS workers to find sanctuary during the most stressful of days. The key features include a timber pavilion and deck, reflecting pool, green wall to the rear of the garden and two curved paths to lead to the central space.
As Florence Nightingale asserted in her landmark “Notes on Nursing” that the most challenging ordeal for a feverish patient is:
“Not being able to see out of window, and the knots in the wood being the only view. I shall never forget the rapture of fever patients over a bunch of bright-coloured flowers”.
At the WAEH | World Association of Eye Hospitals meeting two years ago we covered the importance of green spaces, and the opportunities for practising mindfulness and reducing daily stresses — for patients, visitors and staff.
“People say the effect is only on the mind. It is no such thing. The effect is on the body too” Florence Nightingale
These were seven fantastic hospital gardens I have had the fortune of visiting as part of this article:
Since writing this, it has been fantastic seeing gardens and green spaces sprouting from new hospitals designs. I am looking forward to visiting the new Moorfields Eye Hospital, London in a few years which will represent maximal use of space in both indoor and outdoor green space design.
Should you wish to read more about these important therapeutic tools, their rise and fall and rebirth from the Victorian periods, through the “car park era” and the 1984 Ulrich renaissance, please feel free to read my blog article here
