Hope in oncology facility

Abstract

RESEARCH QUESTION How can architecture help to improve the emotional well-being of cancer patients?

ABSTRACT Cancer is one of the most prevalent diseases of this century. Almost 10 million people worldwide die each year due to different types of cancer. Only about one person in every three people in New Zealand gets cured of this deadly disease. Every day 63 new cancer cases are recorded in New Zealand. In 2012, cancer accounted for 210 deaths for every 100,000 people in New Zealand. This is a higher rate than Australia or the United States of America. With an ageing population in New Zealand, there is the prospect of numbers of cancer patients increasing, and while many treatments have been developed to halt or delay the disease there is no known cure.

In recent times, New Zealand has invested approximately 20 million dollars in opening a new private cancer facility called the Bowen Icon Cancer Centre in Wellington. Research on innovative approaches to provide for greater comfort to patients who often feel emotionally weak during the process of recovery is under continuous development.

This project will propose a design for a support centre for cancer patients targeted at creating a positive environment during their treatment. It will incorporate an in-depth analysis of literature and take inspiration from established contemporary ideas regarding the wellbeing of cancer care patients. Since there are spaces like radiation rooms which need to be designed to hospital standards in the process of achieving this goal, each aspect of the design will be considered and studied before introducing design strategies. Salutogenic design strategies will also be explored and included in the facility design. Precedents will be analysed to understand how architects have developed projects from nascent concepts to design execution. These exemplars will inform the design process.