The Value of Landscaping on Health

Jane Stoneham talked about the therapeutic and social value of landscape at a seminar held by Architects for Health in association with the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation on the 29th June 2006 at the Daiwa Building in London. The seminar brought together architects, landscape architects and health professionals interested in the connections between health and environmental design.

Jane’s talk took as a starting point the fundamental importance of contact with the natural world as a way of maintaining good health as well as helping people recover from illness and trauma. The time for action on healthcare environments is upon us. There is a wealth of evidence that already proves green spaces have a positive effect on our mental and physical health, speed recovery times, shorten hospital stays and prevent many illnesses. Rather than chasing yet more research, Jane stressed that the emphasis should be on finding ways of marketing the evidence so it makes a compelling case. She finished by running through a series of examples from healthcare environments to retirement housing to illustrate how the landscape contributes in very ordinary but crucial ways to the quality of people’s day to day lives.

Dr Clare Hickman opened the seminar with a historical perspective entitled 'Landscape and the Mind: The Therapeutic Role of Landscape in Relation to the Nineteenth Century Lunatic Asylum'. She described how asylums were built with an understanding of the beneficial effects of the landscape on people with mental illness. She talked about Brislington House, an asylum near Bristol whose grounds included many fine walks, secluded gardens and - to the gasps of the contemporary safety-culture audience - a cliff-top path.

Rose Moore from the Blackthorn Medical Centre described the centre's work over the 20 years supporting people with long-term illness. The Blackthorn Centre has a well-earned reputation as an example of how to integrate landscape and active participation in horticulture as part of primary healthcare delivery.

David Buck gave a talk entitled "East of the sun/west of the moon: cultural coordinates in Japanese landscapes" which described one of his landscape projects in Kobe, Japan. Through a series of examples he described how he worked to echo traditional qualities of Japanese architecture in contemporary landscape designs.

David was followed by Takashi Sawano, a Japanese Garden Designer who tried to answer, in fifteen minutes, the question: why are Japanese Gardens so therapeutic? The answers, and there are many that are difficult to interpret across cultures, can be summed up by the maxim "follow nature". Takashi Sawano was the designer of the first Japanese garden in the NHS at North East London Mental Health Trust.

The discussion raised important questions. Why is it that the landscape still gets sidelined so often in hospital design? How can designers respond to the severe challenges that many urban sites present, like lack of space and difficult terrain?

Architects for Health was formed over ten years ago by architects to bring together individuals and organisations who share an interest in excellence in healthcare facility design. Membership is open to healthcare facility designers, planners, clinicians and those who share their aims.

The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation exists to foster links between the UK and Japan and holds series of seminars throughout the year on subjects of interest and concern to both countries such as our ageing populations.