Nature and Neighborhoods
Nature in and around residential homes can be valued in many ways. Two studies emphasize the value of nature on ameliorating proximity to retail land uses and increasing neighborhood satisfaction.
Enhance Satisfaction/Quality of Life
Private Rooms Best in Hospitals
After a review of empirical research, as opposed to popular sentiment, researchers can state definitively that in an acute-care setting private rooms provide several benefits.
Motivation Affects Walkers’ Desired Environment
People who walk for health may prefer different features in the environment than do those who commute by foot.
Desirable Features in Senior Dining-Room Design
After an extensive review of the literature and their own professional experiences, two elder-care researchers have reached conclusions about the design of dining spaces in senior living facilities.
The Debate over Decorative Fountains in Healthcare Environments: How Great is the Infection Control Risk?
This article examines the source of concern over decorative fountains and water features in hospital environments and raises questions about whether or not evidence exists to substantiate these concerns.
Space Meets Status: Designing for Workplace Performance
The question of how office workers are affected by features of the physical environment in which they work has preoccupied researchers as well as designers and building industry professionals for many years. Studies indicate that regardless of physical features, office employees become invested in and attached to their workspaces.
Office Design Research
Allsteel, a major manufacturer of office furniture, recently released information collected from office workers about their satisfaction and desires regarding their workspaces.
Birthing Centers that Enhance Experience
Researchers have determined that pregnant women value perceived hominess in a birthing center and have identified several features that contribute to a perception of hominess.
Garden Visits
The ability of elderly people to concentrate is improved by visits outdoors, although visits outdoors do not seem to influence blood pressure or heart rates.
Attractive Nature: Lessons from Wetlands
How people perceive a landscape may affect its ecological integrity. An attractive landscape may encourage people to protect it, rather than try to modify it. So, what makes a landscape attractive? Researchers looking at Minnesota wetlands found answers to this question from visitors and neighbors to six wetland properties.
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