Architecture for health care buildings
Functional and aesthetic facades and interior spaces

Dartford Health Centre, Kent

 How does hospital or nursing facility architecture affect the health and well-being of patients? The concept of “healing architecture” has been around since the 1980s to describe the positive impact architecture can have on the patient healing process, helping to eliminate the fear that goes into hospital stays. Successful healthcare facility architecture must fulfil not only design demands for its interior and facade, but functional ones as well.

Colours and formats do more than create a pleasant appearance. They can promote orientation and mobility in a single building or throughout the entire hospital facility using a guiding colour scheme. Indoor climate, safety, hygiene, sound insulation, and sanitary materials are other factors influencing material choices and design principles.

Designing facades and indoor spaces with Cembrit

Cembrit’s large-format decorative panels combine performance with a stylish, versatile look. They can be cut to any format and combined with a wide range of colours and surfaces for different design options – specialised colours are available on request –creativity knows no bounds.

Used outdoors on rainscreen cladding systems, fibre cement flat sheets can help promote a balanced indoor climate. Walls compensate for temperature fluctuations throughout the entire year. It reflects sunlight in the summer, while preventing the dry insulation from losing heat during the winter. At the same time, the facade dissipates moisture from inside the building.

One key advantage is their high stability and resistance to all kinds of weather conditions. Frost and dew, heat and extreme precipitation will not impact the fibre cement panels. Fibre cement has a high pH value, making it resistant to algae, bacteria moss, fungus or lichen growth – even under extreme weather conditions. The result is a high-quality, long-lasting and low maintenance facade.

Fibre cement products by Cembrit are made of non-toxic, inorganic raw materials and can also be used for interior wall cladding. Cembrit has a wide range of functional building boards designed for specialist applications including; high traffic areas where impact damage is likely, backer boards for wet areas where tiling is applied and fire rated boards where building integrity and fire resistance is crucial. An exterior suspended ventilated facade creates a custom look that can be continued in indoor design. A modern, friendly interior construction helps hospitals and nursing facilities have a positive impact on healing and health.