A Complementary and Alternative Healthcare centre: Adaptive reuse of the Dorothy Wood Building, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Stress is an outcome generated from today's contemporary pace of life. Due to an increase in stress and stress related problems within Canadian society, studies have been undertaken to combat, prevent and treat or reduce stress within our daily lives. One of the emerging trends used to combat against stress is the use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) practices. Our society is beginning to turn to Complementary and Alternative Health Care practices (CAH) as an answer to not only assist recovery or improve illness, but also to increase wellness and reduce everyday stress. Therefore, CAH may be used as a reactive choice to an existing illness or ailment, or as a proactive and preventative approach to managing stress and health. Given these issues, the purpose of the practicum is to create a centre which will allow people of Winnipeg to both proactively and reactively manage their health and wellness. The building that will house this CAH centre is the Dorothy Wood Building. It is 33,250 square feet and is located within the Grace General Hospital complex in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada.;Through the completion of a literature and precedent review as well as the development of the design programme, it is proposed that the building be partially reused as a CAH centre for the primary use of Baby Boomers residing in Winnipeg. The outcome of this research-based design proposal is a CAH centre that guides an experiencial journey towards holism.