"DWELL: Design for wellbeing in healthcare environments." (R-12949)

How can architecture and interior architecture contribute to the well-being of long-term patients, especially in hospital environments? And how can healthcare institutions (re)integrate the well-being of their employees and caregivers, be they formal (doctors, nurses, …) or informal (close family, relatives, volunteers, …), when planning and designing environments dedicated to care? A four-years research project involving the universities of Liège and Hasselt, as well as the hospitals CHU (in Liège) and ZOL (in Genk) envisions to re-question the architectural typologies in hospital environments (from « beds », « rooms » and « services » to a more systemic level) and to develop innovative architectural solutions prone to answer these challenges. Thanks to the active participation of patients, caregivers and hospital staff, the research project, nourished by the epistemological and methodological approach of "Research through Design" (with its fundamental and applied research outcomes), will hopefully contribute to enhanced living conditions and wellbeing in care environments, in better alignment with the stakeholders' preferences, values and needs.

Keywords:DWELL, healthcare environment, wellbeing

Disciplines:Architecture not elsewhere classified, Interior architecture sciences and technology, Health management, Environmental psychology, Human-centred design

Project type:Collaboration project