Architectural and Environmental  Research

Architectural and Environmental Research

Proposing Effective Components for the Biophilic Design of Children’s Healthcare Centers in Mashhad

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
1 M.Sc. Student in Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Khayyam University, Mashhad, Iran.
2 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Khayyam University, Mashhad, Iran.
Abstract
Children’s healthcare environments, in addition to responding to medical and functional requirements, should also address the psychological, perceptual, and emotional needs of children and their families. Due to their developmental characteristics and greater sensitivity to their surrounding environment, children experience healthcare spaces differently, and factors such as anxiety, fear of the treatment process, and being present in unfamiliar environments can affect the quality of their experience. Therefore, the design of children’s healthcare centers requires approaches that, while maintaining therapeutic requirements, create a calm, comprehensible, and supportive environment. Biophilic architecture, by emphasizing the connection between humans and nature and its effects on users’ psychological and physical well-being, can contribute to achieving this objective. The present study aims to identify and prioritize the effective components in the design of children’s healthcare centers, with an emphasis on the principles of biophilic architecture. In terms of purpose, the research is applied, while in terms of nature, it is descriptive-analytical. In the first stage, through library studies and a review of related research, the initial components were extracted and categorized into six main groups: formal, functional, locational, biophilic, service-related, and user-related components. In the second stage, a Likert-scale questionnaire was administered to specialists in architecture, healthcare space design, and related fields, and the collected data were analyzed. The findings indicated that all identified components are effective in the design of children’s healthcare centers, although they differ in terms of priority. Formal components ranked first, followed by functional, locational, biophilic, service-related, and user-related components. The findings also showed that natural light, visual connections with nature, natural patterns, and multisensory experiences can contribute to reducing anxiety and increasing children’s sense of calm. Overall, the design of children’s healthcare centers should adopt an integrated approach that simultaneously considers children’s psychological and developmental needs, functional requirements, and environmental qualities, while employing biophilic architecture as a means of creating a child-centered, calming, and supportive environment.
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