Public Dimensions of Privacy: Cultural Perceptions of You and Me. An investigation into the sensory perception of privacy and implementation of the findings into a design of a hospital ward

Abstract

This work presents an investigation of the PUBLIC DIMENSIONS OF PRIVACY: CULTURAL PERCEPTIONS OF YOU AND ME and the layers and perceptions of privacy within a multicultural population. Research on health, sound culture and auditory issues is used to obtain a greater understanding of the sensory perception of privacy. The findings are used to critique typical hospital ward layouts, which currently lack “privacy” and “homeliness”. We argue that if patients are to have the best experience whilst in hospital and recover in the shortest possible time, their stress levels need to be minimised. This, amongst other things, means that their environments must provide the maximum of the amenities they enjoy at home i.e. in their private space. A questionnaire tool was devised to uncover the extent of the variation in the sense of need for privacy amongst the different cultures that comprise the cosmopolitan population of Auckland. Two main aspects of the findings - (1) the provision of acoustic privacy and (2) the sense of separation from others and freedom ( of choice) by maximising the connection with nature; are addressed in a new design for a hospital ward(s). This process is supported by the continuous parallel process of craft in order to obtain a balanced architectural response. There is a need for acoustic privacy if patients are to feel comfortable within hospital spaces. This work aims to create an architectural response, which incorporates the language of space into the process of healing and thereby extending the medical treatment to the space surrounding patients, staff and visitors.