| Within a hospice environment, informal caregiving at the end of life can be a physically, psychologically, psychosocially and spiritually challenging experience, where the health and well-being of informal caregivers directly impacts the quality of end-of-life care of the resident. Inspired by a personal experience within palliative care, this practicum project focuses on how the design of an independent hospice facility can support the needs of informal caregivers in the delivery of palliative care. This holistic approach to palliative design integrates the overarching principles of healthy anticipatory grieving and patient-focused, family-centered end-of-life care, alongside the fundamental strategies of quality built environments and the tenets of biophilic design. Located on Waterfront Drive in the northeast corner of the Winnipeg Exchange District, the design of Exchange Hospice includes the adaptive reuse and partial new construction of an independent hospice facility. Exchange Hospice capitalizes on the healing potential of nature through direct, indirect, and symbolic connections to the natural environment. |
