For most people in North America, undergoing treatments for cancer occurs exclusively in a healthcare setting. All too often, this healthcare setting provides a backdrop privileging the technological requirements of conventional medicine over the well-being of the people who inhabit it. Conversely, this practicum project is founded on a different, more holistic approach to cancer care called integrative oncology. The project investigates how an integrative cancer treatment centre can be designed to be more than a technological backdrop, endeavoring to become an active entity that truly supports those dealing with cancer. The investigation includes an extensive literature review of theoretical and evidence-based sources that relate to fostering connections to nature on a variety of levels. Informed by this, a review of relevant design precedents and the functional issues of integrative cancer treatment, the investigation concludes with a design solution for an integrated cancer treatment centre and related findings.

For most people in North America, undergoing treatments for cancer occurs exclusively in a healthcare setting. All too often, this healthcare setting provides a backdrop privileging the technological requirements of conventional medicine over the well-being of the people who inhabit it. Conversely, this practicum project is founded on a different, more holistic approach to cancer care called integrative oncology. The project investigates how an integrative cancer treatment centre can be designed to be more than a technological backdrop, endeavoring to become an active entity that truly supports those dealing with cancer. The investigation includes an extensive literature review of theoretical and evidence-based sources that relate to fostering connections to nature on a variety of levels. Informed by this, a review of relevant design precedents and the functional issues of integrative cancer treatment, the investigation concludes with a design solution for an integrated cancer treatment centre and related findings.