2024 - Omusana Luminous Care Centre

Omusana Luminous Care Centre is strategically located in Nkozi, Uganda, along the equator belt, about 80km from Kampala. Nkozi is a rural community with a church, mission hospital, a major university, and a growing youth population. The community relies heavily on agriculture and trade but faces significant economic, social, and health challenges, including high utility costs and frequent water shortages.

The existing healthcare facilities, such as Nkozi Hospital, often impede the healing process for youth recovering from trauma, stress, and institution-based anxiety, addiction, and anti-social behaviors. The rigid and uniform design of these facilities makes them feel intimidating rather than comforting. Inadequate natural light, due to poor window placement or reliance on artificial lighting, disrupts behavioral patterns and affects sleep quality and recovery speed. This underscores the need for a health center that promotes healing and recovery through architectural intervention.

‘Omusana,’ which means ‘Sunlight’ in the local Luganda language, draws inspiration from the Centre for Health Design (2006), which reports that natural light exposure in hospitals decreases patient stress and improves health outcomes. Integrating natural light not only benefits patient recovery but also offers potential for solar energy harvesting to substitute unreliable artificial lighting during the day. The design of Omusana under the theme ’Luminous Care’ aims to accelerate healing and create more effective, user-friendly healthcare environments.

With the increasing youth population in Nkozi, several student hostels have been established, including Wamala Hostel, which accommodates up to 40 residents. The Omusana facility repurposes this existing hostel building to complement the local hospital and address urgent health needs of the youth population.

The center provides pre-hospital care and post-treatment services, including immunization, testing, therapy, counseling, and patient support programs. Local health teams have identified issues such as behavioral disorders, mental health conditions exacerbated by substance abuse, stress, and a lack of local awareness initiatives.

Roger Ulrich’s Stress Reduction Theory (SRT) explores the impact of nature on reducing psychological and physiological stress and promoting better health outcomes. The theory suggests that certain environmental characteristics can enhance healing environments by creating positive distractions. At Omusana Recovery Centre, this theory is applied to provide ’luminous care’ through therapeutic healing spaces inspired by the site’s natural character and strategic position along the equator. Natural environments aid stress recovery, while built urban environments may hinder it. Natural light, as a positive distraction, will be harnessed to address the dark rooms and corridors of the existing building.

Omusana Recovery Centre is designed to be adaptable for treating and controlling contagious diseases during epidemics. The existing site lines and proximity to Nkozi Hospital to the north suggest zoning the facility to include both emergency treatment and recovery spaces. These spaces will use diffused natural light and sensory interactions to enhance user experience and support mental and physical healing.

The adaptive reuse of the existing hostel will involve repurposing materials like timber roof trusses, iron roof sheets, recycled glass, and wall rubble into the new design. The project will leverage natural light in various volumes and spaces to reduce stress and enhance the efficiency of healthcare workers while aiding patient recovery. The site’s openness and limited physical obstructions offer great potential for harvesting solar energy. Studies indicate that patients in brighter rooms experience less pain, use fewer pain medications, and have shorter postoperative stays. Additionally, daylight access improves staff alertness and reduces stress.

The proposal aims to imitate the architecture of the existing building, incorporating an open courtyard space and long narrow volumes to maximize daylight exposure. Solar energy harvesting will be facilitated by the site’s ample sunlight exposure. Architectural features like vertical strip windows, roof skylights, and healing corridors will ensure natural light guides users along their recovery journey. Treatment of the eastern and western façades, which receive significant exposure to direct sunlight, will include solar trees, clerestory windows, and large openings. These features will increase the average daylight factor of interior spaces, while a large floor-to-ceiling height, cross, and stack ventilation strategies will reduce heat intake. Additionally, the facility will take advantage of the sun’s position to provide appropriate top lighting that illuminates the walls, infusing natural light into the healing experience. The spatial arrangement will include large open spaces between buildings, encouraging reflected light into interiors. The interplay of light and shadows, along with passive design strategies, will enhance indoor and outdoor lighting quality, accelerating the healing process at Omusana.

The Omusana center addresses the pressing need for a health facility that promotes healing and recovery through thoughtful architectural interventions. By repurposing the Wamala Hostel and leveraging the natural characteristics of the site, the design emphasizes the use of natural light and open spaces to create a therapeutic environment. This approach not only improves patient outcomes but also enhances working conditions for healthcare staff, demonstrating the transformative potential of architecture in medical environments.