'Thoughtful' Design and Healthcare- Comparative Case Studies of Medical Facilities built 146 years apart

Health and well-being have a very direct relationship. The purpose of this research is to understand the impact of design of the healthcare facility to the recovery of those inside it. The most apparent differences between healthcare facilities built with human-centric approaches and those built with a broader or more ‘number-centric’ approach, is found when the exemplar facilities being compared, belong to different eras. For this research, the first facility chosen is one built during war- a promptly designed and promptly set-up hospital where patients were mostly nameless, faceless soldiers considered most important for numbers in the army- and the second, a hospital of the twenty-first century, one built involving residents, psychology, nature and aesthetics. This research compares the buildings on various architectural as well as general factors, including ideology, humanity of approach, design, materials, construction techniques, context and setting, aesthetics, socio-cultural parameters, morals and overall medical treatment merits. It concludes with an analysis of the similarities and differences of the two approaches, the changing requirements of a post-pandemic world, and what the latest definition of “future-ready” means for healthcare infrastructure.