[Tanya Goertzen]

I just did “perspective drawing” with Richard Scott, and traveled from Calgary, AB to Pasadena to do it.  It was totally worth it!  It was a bit of a revisit on the traditional 2 point perspective drawing method I learned years back, but with his simplified method that incorporates a 1 point perspective grid, it makes it WAY easier, and actually practical in real work.  Sadly, he’s retiring from graphics teaching and moving into fine art.

[Tanya Goertzen]

Thanks for the offer Nick, more info on the proportional method would be great. I have used charts before, but am looking some quicker methods so I can draw better on the spot. Although if your going to send me to Richard, he’s not offering workshops right now.

[Tanya Goertzen]

I’m doing some market research on this very topic, and haven’t found anything this specific yet. BUT I have found some interesting stats on alternative therapies trends, I think relevant . A 2008 U.S. survey of hospitals found that more than 37 percent offer one or more alternative medicine therapies, up from 26.5 percent in 2005 (and 25% in 2004 from another study I found). Consulting of alternative therapists is also trending up strongly, the most common reason by far being chronic pain.

I was hoping someone would know about a survey of health care facilities indicating what percent have therapeutic or healing landscapes, how much this has increased over past years, etc. Does anyone know whether that info is out there and where I can find it? I’m Canadian, but I can make do with U.S. data and extrapolate from there if need be. Let me know if you do!

[Tanya Goertzen]

Thanks Gideon, do you have a link for this conference? A google search didn’t result in anything…

[Tanya Goertzen]

Chad, your explanation is simple, clear and short, all very important qualities when talking to someone who doesn’t understand, and the time before their eyes glaze over is limited. Even better, it’s completely devoid of any ego, driven only by the love of what you do. This is inspiring to hear, thank you for sharing!

[Tanya Goertzen]

Are these questions coming from clients or consultants? If we can understand their motivation better, we can answer the question better. If it’s a potential client, they are probably trying to develop a budget.

When a person is providing a defined product or service it’s possible to estimate your costs quite easily. In the world of therapeutic site design, context is everything, we know this, but clients (and even non-site designers) don’t always understand this. Drop the same design into different spaces and the whole thing is perceived differently and functions differently. This is not like designing a chair that can function in isolation. What are the specific needs of the patients, is this acute care or long-term for example? Their needs and the environment that we consequently design is very different. If we’re going to employ the tools that are known to reduce stress, like access to sun/shade, clarity of navigation (in the case of Alzheimer’s focused design), etc. then building configuration, orientation, topography, etc. all influence the design and mean that every design must be unique. It’s important that people outside of our profession understand this and that we take the time to educate them. This is what makes what we do different from other design professions and is where the real value lies.

The best we can often give is a wide range of costs. If they’re serious about the project, do what you need to estimate your costs; ask the questions, visit the site. But don’t do any of that before educating your client about context, so that they understand that even the process of estimating your costs is time consuming and you immediately demonstrate the value of what you do.

If they are trying to develop a budget, an important question for them is, what is a reduction in your patient’s length of stay and a reduction in narcotic pain medication worth to you? These are probable outcomes that directly affect operating costs of any facility and should be considered as well. The true “cost” of these projects isn’t just in capital cost, it’s in operating costs as well. If there weren’t operating benefits, there would be no point in building healing gardens in the first place. Again, you’re demonstrating the value of what you do, and that your fees can be offset by outcomes. If you can find some stats for this facility, like what the average length of stay is, use research to determine how much that is likely to be reduced by, and answer the question for them, that much better.

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