Two students walking and talking on a sidewalk in front of a modern school building with greenery and trees.

Healthcare Landscape Supporting Recovery and Wellbeing

Location: Hermanus, South Africa

Scale: 4,500 m²

Client: Western Cape Government (Health)

Completion: 2019

Holistic Healthcare in a Human-Centred Landscape

The project integrates landscape and architecture to create therapeutic outdoor environments that support patient recovery, staff wellbeing, and intuitive movement through the site.

Key Moves

  • Network of therapeutic courtyards for different user groups

  • Indigenous planting strategy with low water demand

  • Clear spatial navigation through landscape structure

  • Healing garden spaces supporting recovery and rest

  • Rewilding of surrounding landscape with endemic species

  • Green roof systems improving thermal performance and water management

  • Modern houses with white walls and sloped roofs, a row of young trees along a pathway, and a grassy yard under a clear blue sky.

  • Modern building with multiple windows, a sloped roof, and a small structure on top, surrounded by tall grass under a clear blue sky.

  • A group of people standing and talking outside a modern building with large glass windows and doors, surrounded by large planters with trees and plants, on a sunny day.

  • A modern courtyard with brick pavers, a tree in a circular planter, and large glass windows on surrounding buildings under a clear blue sky.

  • Indoor view of a hallway with a large window showing an outdoor playground with a wooden play structure.

  • Two children riding on animal-shaped playground toys and a third child walking nearby on a checkered yellow and gray surface in a sunny outdoor area with modern buildings in the background.

  • Modern white residential buildings with black accents and wooden screens, surrounded by tall yellow grass and a few trees under a clear blue sky.

  • Modern house with a metal roof, white brick walls, narrow windows, and a garden with shrubs and small trees, under a clear blue sky.

  • A modern building with large glass windows, a white brick exterior, and a wooden privacy screen. There are people walking and talking outside, and lush green plants and tall grasses in the foreground.

  • Site plan of Hermanu's Community Day Centre showing building layout, parking lot, and landscaped garden areas with trees and plant selections.

  • Split view of a modern outdoor courtyard. The left side shows a paved area with green climbing plants on the wall and topped with modern windows. The right side depicts a circular concrete planter with a tree and succulents, with a bench and more greenery in the background.

  • A modern outdoor garden scene with tall, reddish-brown grasses, a small leafless tree, and a wooden slat privacy screen against a building with yellow and white walls.