Hospitals can no longer be thought of as simply healing machines--they are healing organisms. It is Nature that permits every miracle of medicine, and it is Science that permits our understanding of medicine. By combining the two into a single idea, we aim to strike a balance between the duality of Nature and Technology, in order to design a space that relies more on the healing powers of Nature and less on the intrusiveness of Technology.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Mary Catherine E. Kingery-Page / Druid City Hospital in Tuscaloosa, Alabama is one of the fastest growing heart, cancer, and rehabilitation hospitals in the southern United States. Although once characterized as one of the greatest modern innovations of the early century, the exterior is now outdated (DCH, 2009). However, as the hospital has increased in size and new additions constructed the identity and character of the once prized facility have been lost. Today the existing campus is a juxtaposition of mixed architecture styles and hastily planned construction efforts. The patients and employees of the Druid City Hospital believe that the exterior of the hospital fails to reflect the diligence and care being given within (DCH, 2009). The creation of a unified and cohesive exterior landscape would bring a strong connection between the interior and exterior and once again showcase the hospital as a marvel of it’s time. Through the implementation of spaces designed specifically for rehabilitation, the design of a cohesive landscape will address the current needs and existing conditions of the Druid City Hospital. The application of a health care garden typology and rehabilitative design elements adapted from Clare Cooper Marcus and Marni Barnes as well as the American Horticultural Therapy Association will aid in the design solutions and creation of acohesive and rehabilitative landscape for the Druid City Hospital.

The Pre-Project Phase of building construction manages the communication between client organization, user groups and designers. Disconnects and miscommunication in this phase may result in a product that does not fulfill the expectations of the parties involved. It is expected that the adoption of more formal methods can streamline the communication and improve its precision. Based on a literature review, a triage of methods is introduced: (a) a method for initial criteria management, supported by the EcoProP software (developed by VTT in Finland); (b) a method to rationalize and manage criteria in relation to the design organizational instruments, supported by the QFD ProP software (developed by VTT in Finland); (c) a method that supports multi criteria decision making, supported by a range of commercially available software tools. In order to assess the effectiveness of these tools they have been applied in the specific case of Pre-Project Phase of a healthcare facility. A Case Study on a concrete discrete decision problem is dealt with. It concerns the choice between a central medication room and patient room dispenser closets (also known as Nurservers). The Nurservers Case Study is used to evaluate the applicability of the proposed criteria gathering, ranking and decision methods in the Pre-Project Phases daily practices. The claim that these rational methods increase efficiency, precision and satisfaction of the parties involved in this phase is investigated. The thesis evaluates how the introduction of rational methods benefits the communication between stakeholders.