Anbar Journal for Engineering Sciences

Abstract

The quality of the built environment could highly impact our state of wellbeing, by affecting ourstress and exposure within the building environment. Scientific studies linked stress todepression, diabetes, obesity, and cardiac disease. Hospitals considered as stressful places due totheir inconvenient experiences. The theory of Salutogenic design aims to reduce stress throughthe implementation of an interdisciplinary design study to enhance the sense of coherence (SOC)for any individual to be able to adapt himself to the overall life challenges. Salutogenic definesseveral factors which can affect an individual’s state of well-being in any space. This researchlimited on two of these design factors (daylight, colour) within three selected hospital through acritical methodology using a sample questionnaire of 15 questions headed to 90 from all threehospitals. the second part of the methodology using a Light-meter device for calculating theamount of Lux in actual hospital conditions, the third part of research methodology is asimulation program (Ecotect) to have an adequate daylight calculation in the wards of all threehospitals as well as the lighting distribution with (daylight factor) to evaluate the efficiency ofwards in Erbil city. The last part of the study is by a field investigation by the researcher for theimplementation of Salutogenic Colours. through a critical methodology approach.The researchresults shows that wards of three hospitals has a poor natural daylight to penetrate the building,and hospitals depends mainly on artificial light which causes uncomfortability and inconsitnecyin treatment process. Patients prefrences are twords new colours such as turquoise, palepink,and blue rather than the tradtional colours used in Erbil governmental hospitals. using lightmeter as assessment tool to compare between the Ecotec Lux measurement and the actualcondition of lighting in hospital. The evaluation of three Wards within hospitals shows clearly theun sufficiency of natural lighting which leads to needing of artificial daylight. And might delay theprocess of recovery. Ecotect calculates the most suitable design condition in any city and findsother suitable orientations for buildings.