BioHeal, Rehabilitation Centre, Alexandra Hospital, Singapore

The BioHeal (Biophilic Healing) journey, incorporated into the rehabilitation centre within the hospital’s recently opened Cocoon building, includes features crafted from timber harvested from the hospital grounds during the clearing of the construction site.

Assoc Prof Okuda heads the SkyTimber: Tropical Renewable Architecture Design Lab at NUS, which aims to be a pioneer in the development and architectural use of tropical Mass-Engineered Timber (MET), in line with CDE’s commitment to sustainability and multi-disciplinary innovation across design and engineering.

As part of the hospital’s redevelopment and expansion, the BioHeal project follows the principles of biophilic design – an architectural approach which focuses on enhancing connectivity to the natural environment by representing the essence of natural phenomena.

In addition to being a renewable and sustainable material, timber architecture has been shown to bring a number of physiological and psychological wellness benefits by improving air quality, reducing CO2, blood pressure and stress, and even increasing cognitive ability.