Photo: Sanlas Group Render: Sanlas Group / Foto Studio Wien | Stora Enso partner: ZMP
Patients and staff of healthcare buildings understandably have higher levels of stress either as a result of illness or staff having to respond to life-saving situations. Several studies strongly indicate that reforging our connection to nature through the interior environment often has a stress-reducing effect, particularly for mental wellness, with nature-based architectural themes, including exposed natural wood.
Engineering and healthcare professionals are furthering research into how mass timber, in particular as a construction material, can aid the design of healthcare buildings. As far back as 1984 a study was conducted according to which gallbladder surgery patients recovered quicker and could be released from the hospital one day sooner if they were provided with window views to nature as opposed to looking at the hospital’s exterior walls.
The cost of patient care is significantly reduced if patients can be released even just one day sooner, and it is very possibly not the only economic benefit that a biophilic-designed wooden hospital might be able to achieve.
Hygiene is of utmost importance in healthcare. Research has shown that untreated wood materials have antimicrobial properties against a wide range of pathogens responsible for healthcare-associated infections. The most common microbes survive least on porous materials as compared to smooth solid materials. There is demonstrated evidence that the cleanability of wooden and non-wood surfaces is comparable.
The exposed Sylva™ CLT elements also contribute to the overall healthy indoor air quality, and are M1-classified, meaning they are proven low-emitting of volatile organic compounds.
Stora Enso has provided wood products for several healthcare building projects.
