Designing the medical institute of the future with BA Interior Design

With the UAL Graduate Showcase 2021 celebrations in full swing, we caught up with Chelsea College of Arts BA Interior Design 2021 graduate Julia Kelpinska.

Julia’s graduate showcase submission, titled Human+ From Monkey to Cyborg, is a design for a futuristic medical institution placed in the next fifty years. The design is built on primary research and current social-cultural issues, implementing Artificial Intelligence to address patient concerns and building a medical institution of tomorrow.

Julia told us more about her project: “My project is a futuristic medical institution, placed in the next fifty years. It introduces innovative methods which may heal people who are mentally or physically disabled, at the same time enabling them to enjoy a longer lifespan and better quality of life. The institution also poses an answer to speculations about the expansion of artificial intelligence and its influence on the relationship of humans and machines, delivering on healthcare as well as on a hospital design.”

Tell us about the processes and development stages of your project:

To provide patients with effective healthcare, appropriate conditions are needed, a well-designed environment which has a therapeutic effect has the power to reduce patient anxiety and stress, lessen pain and accelerate recovery.

To find out what design strategies should be implemented to create this highly desirable atmosphere for patients, I conducted a survey among 50 people asking them what associations they have when thinking of hospitals and why. The results were that 92% of the respondents had negative experiences, due to long waiting time, 26% felt uncertainty, 30% felt stress and 18% discomfort.

Looking at these results, the design of Human+ needed to pay special attention to the well-being of patients, keeping them informed about their health condition, providing fluent circulation and fast service.

There is also a concept of nature which is seen as a crucial tool for designers to deliver comfortable and better-functioning projects that positively affect humans’ mind, body, and spirit.

I implemented a natural colour palette into the design, for example blue, a colour of ocean, is proved to calm and reduce tension thus all operating rooms in the clinic are designed in shades of this colour. Bedrooms are green because this colour is associated with peace, rest and security and evokes feeling of relaxation and harmony.

Pink is cheerful, conveys a sense of openness and friendliness which make it a perfect choice for the entrance space and waiting hall as this is the first space a patient encounter. There are also a lot of white accents which will leave the impression of hygiene, sterility, and purity.

To reduce the amount of stress, it is also important to provide patients with absorbing activities which keep them busy and entertained, therefore taking their disturbing thoughts, fear of surgery and feeling lonely, away. There are such benefits associated with people-plant interactions, which additionally increase life satisfaction and optimism, plus improve self-esteem and sense of community.

Growing plants and caring for them occupies the hands and mind, making the brain focused on one task and distracted from things that cause stress. I designed a greenhouse in the middle space of the institute, in which patients can gather, meet other patients, get support, and relax.

Patients also need to have a good understanding of their health condition, and for that, an ongoing monitoring system is crucial as well as accurate diagnosis. Medical errors are one of the leading causes of death in the world along with contributions such as malignant lesions, and the limitations of human vision.

Computer systems, on the other hand are already able to detect, for example, the early stages of lung cancer in scans of patients more accurately than trained radiologists. That is why, in the future machines should replace people in this area of diagnosis which will lead to healthcare institutions providing better care and more lives saved.

In this proposal, the entire patient journey will happen under the supervision of artificial intelligence with all the above qualities mentioned, delivering a more efficient service every step of the patient’s journey.

When entering the institution, my design also includes patients being greeted by a hologram. They will get chipped and encouraged to install an app. The chip will enable artificial intelligence to control health condition of the visitors throughout their journey in the building on an ongoing basis and send patients’ data to the system.

The app will be a guide with a digital map of the space with a notifier about upcoming treatments and events within the site. Patients will then await their turn for a diagnosis which will take place in a special diagnostic capsule. Inside it, accurate computer systems will analyse their body, detect ailments, and suggest appropriate treatment, eliminating medical errors which are often a cause of human vision limitations.

What are the inspirations behind the project?

The clinic is located within the area of King’s Cross St Pancras and people living there are under constant pressure from society for the pursuit of money and success. They are exposed to noise, polluted air and stress. Additionally, fast foods, addictions and almost no physical activity caused by sedentary work and a busy living style, influence the deterioration of physical and mental condition.

These factors lead to various civilisation diseases like for example cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death globally, taking an estimated 17.9 million lives each year, or chronic respiratory disease which the number of sick increased by 39.8% since 1990. Residents need a solution to deal with these diseases, which will not be just the taking of pills, thus Kings Cross is the perfect spot for setting up an innovative medical institution.

Another issue that I wanted to tackle is maladjustment of society especially in regard to the needs of disabled people. Technology is progressing faster than ever, but scientists still haven’t found a solution to mental and physical disabilities which 1 billion people - 15% of the world’s population suffer from worldwide.

There are certain requirements in construction regulations that involve the adaptation of spaces to people with disabilities, installing lifts or ramps beside the stairs for those on wheelchairs or including sound signal at pedestrian crossings for the blind. These disabilities can increase the risk of poverty through the lack of employment and education opportunities, lower wages, and increased cost of living.

Fluent circulation and easy orientation within the clinic were also very important. At Heathrow Airport electric, emissions-free passenger shuttles help improve punctuality for flights, so I decided to use this concept in my building and provide patients with driverless vehicles which would help in transferring patients, punctual arrival at the surgery site and would help with navigation.

They would be powered by electricity – this is good for the planet and would not disturb the silence in the building. To make it easier for disabled or patients post-op to function, I decided to implement voice-activated interfaces within the clinic enabling people to turn on lights or call the robot nurse on demand in case they cannot get out of bed. This would be similar to the Amazon Alexa, which is an intelligent speaker that records human voice, connected to the internet analyses recording on command.

Healthcare institutions impose requirements on designers regarding choice of materials which are non-slip, clean and easy to maintain, for safety and comfort of patients because surfaces play a significant role in the spread of infection. I looked at a dental clinic, designed by studio Bureauhub, which is almost fully made from Corian, its biggest advantage being that it is extraordinary durable and resistant to temperatures and chemicals. The material is also non-porous, therefore resistant to bacteria and fungi. I implemented this material in my design.”