With immense amounts of research showing the healing benefits of having access to nature, healthcare systems see this access as a must in their spaces. Outside of Toronto, West Park Healthcare Centre is redefining how nature and a specially-designed outdoor campus can effectively be integrated into rehabilitation and complex care.

The 27-acre development, located in a park-like setting, is designed to respond to an urgent need many current facilities cannot address: a growing demand for complex continuing care and a need for breakthroughs in rehabilitation therapy. More than just meeting these needs, the new West Park creates a restorative setting where patients receive world-class care and benefit from therapeutic connections to nature simultaneously.

The focal point of the West Park development is a replacement hospital housing 314 beds, as well as expanded outpatient services, community living and outreach programs. At its core, the hospital is focused on helping patients rediscover their sense of self and regain the abilities needed to get back to their lives. It is the first step in West Park’s larger plan to create an integrated campus of care that models the way of the future for healthcare delivery, education and research.

Recognizing that most patients in West Park’s care require stays spanning weeks, months and even years, the hospital is designed to ensure patients feel connected to the world around them. Key to doing this is restoring the “park” in West Park via outdoor gardens, walking trails, therapeutic spaces and outdoor terraces on every floor offering scenic views of the Humber River.

To create a familiar and residential environment, the design team worked to understand the disease/condition profile for the patients who reside in each unit and what it meant for their emotional and physical state, and how the certain colors and materials could create a supportive environment. Nature imagery from the surrounding Humber River valley is reflected in the environmental graphics and color palette used, with images used in both panoramic and microscopic viewpoints depending on the scale of the space.

Maximizing the extent of natural landscape on the site and revitalizing connections to the Humber River Valley ecology and its natural biodiversity are of paramount importance in the design of the hospital. The entrance to the hospital is also being re-routed; whereas the current entrance sequence required visitors to drive through a residential neighborhood, the new sequence brings visitors directly to the hospital via a scenic route.

Design: CannonDesign and Montgomery Sisam Architects
Photography: Laura Peters | CannonDesign