Landscape Architecture and Garden Design students work up inspiring plans for hospital site
The recuperative effect of the environment on people's health has long been acknowledged, but an innovative design project at Writtle College is putting this into practice. Students studying garden design and landscape architecture courses have been working with Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow on ways to improve the hospital grounds. The aim is to enhance people's experiences of the hospital and to boost their wellbeing. The students have produced master plans of the hospital site and the environment beyond, suggesting innovative design solutions - from better signage to parking improvements, wildlife corridors to concepts for gardens. But the project is not just a theoretical exercise. The designs will soon go on show at the hospital in a special exhibition which will gather the views of the public, as part of a fundraising drive to make the designs a reality. Steve Terry, Senior Lecturer in Design at Writtle College, said: "There is a lot of research into why g...