The Elowen Project
My academic projects have built a strong interest in healthcare and wellbeing environments, with a design approach shaped by feminist thinking, biophilic principles, and sustainable material strategies.
For my master’s thesis project, I wanted to tackle 2 problems:
Sport has become unattainable for the normal person. There are less leisure centres for the population demand. Sport has also become a means for capitalist gains, expensive memberships, expensive match tickets, expensive participation.
it can take up to 1 year on a SARC waitlist before you receive treatment. 1 year of feeling stuck, scared, and alone. 1 year that could make a difference in the start of someone’s journey.
Combing these, I set out to answer the question:
Can access to sports therapy spaces, support recovery during the wait time for counselling?
The Proposal:
A redefined accessible leisure centre, focusing on low impact mindful sports, such as yoga and Pilates, for those women who are on the SARC waitlist. The centre will use biophilic principles to connect the users back to nature, a key element for improving mental health and wellbeing.
The Design Drivers:
If someone feels STUCK, I want them to be able to MOVE
If someone feels SCARED, I want to provide them the PRIVACY to feel safe.
If someone feels ALONE, I want them to PLAY in a community to rediscover that trust.
The Aim:
To reduce the effect of the waiting time on patients, so therapy can be more focussed on trauma therapy and therefore reduce the number of sessions someone may need. The hope is to reduce the effects of depressions and anxiety during the wait and reconnect women to their bodies with physical movement.
