Insights
  • 2026-08-14

Eight Interior Design Strategies Lead to a Holistic Healing Experience

Clinical care and patient dignity receive equal weight when design is part of the treatment plan; healthcare environments in China are a case in point.
By Coco Lin, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP, Principal
Eight Design Strategies Lead to a Holistic Healing Experience
Well-appointed assessment rooms provide calming environments for patients at the Presidential Health Management Center in Beijing.
Photograph © Seth Powers

In healthcare settings, interior design plays an essential role in the healing experience of patients and the well-being of all who care for and visit them. In alignment with clinical function and medical treatment, we strive to create spaces that actively support recovery. These environments provide sensory comfort, ease anxiety, and encourage social connection. A new generation of hospitals and medical facilities in China embody our approach—in each one, the design becomes part of the treatment plan.

We integrate eight key design strategies into our healthcare projects to help our clients create purposeful spaces for healing.

1. Calming Environments: Through the deployment of biophilic cues—natural textures, organic forms, and vibrant greenery—we aim to calm all five senses and counteract the anxiety associated with clinical settings.

2. Purposeful Placemaking: By treating every moment at a human scale, we create meaningful experiential scenarios to ensure patients and families feel seen, grounded, and emotionally supported.

3. Seamless Continuity: To help the patient dissolve the psychological barrier between public areas and exam rooms, we bring nature and warmth into even the most clinical spaces.

4. Clinical Adaptability: To balance rigorous healthcare standards and human dignity in every interaction, we respect clinical workflows and safety requirements while giving patients agency.

5. Natural Surfaces: By selecting wood, stone, clay, and textiles, we engage the sense of touch with warm, tactile surfaces while providing durable, easy to clean, medical-grade performance.

6. Caring Furniture: Through furniture selection and placement, we preserve personalization and dignity by accommodating healthcare needs such as adjustable features for patients and comfortable seating for the family.

7. Lighting Mood: Shaping the atmosphere throughout the day through strategic employment of natural and artificial light sources helps regulate circadian rhythms, reduce stress, and promote restorative calm.

8. Artful Wayfinding: Designing waiting areas with visual transparency and clear signage orients patients and visitors in large medical complexes by transforming wayfinding from a potential source of confusion into a reassuring journey.

Our strategies are implemented in healthcare environments across China (top to bottom): Transparent wall panels and wayfinding signage at the waiting areas in Xi’an Zhongda International Hospital in Xi’an; a homelike postpartum suite at the Nanjing Golden Eagle Health Center in Nanjing; soft colors and a serene mural in an MRI exam room at Xi’an Zhongda International Hospital; wood paneling and floor-to-ceiling windows in patient rooms at Xi’an Zhongda International Hospital; and a nurses’ station with abundant natural light at the rehabilitation hospital within the Taikang Wuhan Chuyuan Senior Living Community in Wuhan. 

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Renderings © Perkins Eastman

Eight Design Strategies Lead to a Holistic Healing Experience 1

Photograph © CreatAR

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Eight Design Strategies Lead to a Holistic Healing Experience 4

Eight Design Strategies Lead to a Holistic Healing Experience 5

Photograph © Aaron&Rex

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