To encourage serenity and calmness, healthcare facilities should be as peaceful and pleasant as possible. Biophilic design, a strategy of implementing nature into the environment, can help.

The biophilia hypothesis suggests that there is an instinctive bond between human beings and nature.  Edward O. Wilson introduced and popularized the hypothesis in his book, Biophilia (1984). He defines biophilia as “the urge to affiliate with other forms of life.”  It has since been expanded to include all forms of the natural environment, from plants and trees to rocks, sand and earth.

The benefits of biophilic design are clear.  Studies have shown that exposure to nature and natural images can help with the healing process, reduce absenteeism, increase productivity and improve mood.

Use the Altro Wood™ Safety collection to add a touch of biophilic design. Whether you want to create warm and homely aesthetics, or transform a space into a cool contemporary feature area, our new ranges can help you make your design vision a reality.

Noise levels can also have a serious impact on the wellbeing of patients, staff and visitors in a hospital environment.

Hospital machinery, equipment, nurse pagers and other devices are a large source of noise pollution. Hard interior surfaces including floors, walls and ceilings are also another major acoustic issue; as a hard surface, they can reflect rather than absorb sound. This causes noise to bounce around, overlap, echo and reverberate. Reverberation causes noise to prolong and echo in the environment, meaning it takes longer before the sound stops.

These sound reflecting surfaces cause noise to travel down corridors into other rooms and extend considerable distances. The resulting lingering sound can affect patients, visitors and staff over larger areas.

Altro Wood Safety Comfort can contribute to the reduction of noise in buildings and offers 14 dB sound reduction. It helps by reducing sound transmission, increasing sound absorption and reducing sound reflection.

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