Kyra Rutherford
BIO
I decided to pursue design because my interests lie in accessibility, diversity & functionality when creating a space. I strive to create spaces that make everyone feel comfortable & included. I believe designers have the ability to create functional spaces while still being aesthetically pleasing.
Thesis Project
The Health Hub
The Health Hub focuses on biophilic rehabilitation that will help and assist with recovery and healing during all stages of injury, in an inclusive, sustainable, and balanced facility. The goal of this facility is to promote recovery, a healthy lifestyle, and healing opportunities for a portion of the Halton region communities, while ensuring a sustainable and inclusive facility is built.
Preliminary
The Health Hub was designed to use biophilic design elements to help create a safe and comfortable space for healing. With an emphasis on biophilic design, repetition and balance. Biophilic elements have been proven to help with healing and promoting a healthy recovery, so the incorporation of them was extremely important. The Health Hub specifically focuses on healing, and overall health and wellness during all stages of recovery. To ensure this, several individuals from the health industry were interviewed to provide feedback and guidance on preliminary design ideas. This was to ensure the facility would function and operate to the highest standards for all occupants. The facility has a variety of different offerings for all occupants including, a teaching kitchen, a cafe, virtual reality rehabilitation, sports psychologists and therapists, a return to sport gym, zero gravity treadmills, a gym and treatment rooms. With these offerings it makes this a specific facility, allowing for comfort of all occupants and patients. The overall idea of The Health Hub was to create a space where people could gather and encourage each other through treatments and recovery while also ensuring all patients received the best treatment they could.