Hyperbaric Chamber
Architecture informed by oxygen therapy
The challenge of this project was how to create a space that is comforting to patients whose treatment consists of being placed inside a pressurized steel tube to breathe pure oxygen. Using the principles of Planetree and inspired by the biological process by which hyperbaric oxygen therapy works, we chose a specific conceptual pattern: one that symbolizes cell structures containing oxygen bubbles. The design creates a sense of lightness and movement in a potentially anxious process.
The new department drastically improves the medical technology from the original facility, while purposefully creating art out of high-technology machinery. The project brings movement and sense of comfort to its intimidating environment, a utilitarian steel tube under pressure.
To provide additional drama, along with natural light, a skylight was placed over the patient staging area. A glass “water wall” stimulates natural movement. The ceiling’s cell theme gives visual stimulation for those entering the hyperbaric chamber via stretchers.
Photography by John Korom