The Meno-Ya-Win Health Center offers a bold new approach to the design and delivery of Health Care within the northern Canadian context. Combining traditional first nations healing practices with the most up to date modern techniques, the hospital aims to create new way of delivering healthcare in Canada.
The ideology behind the design of a Health Center is to create a ‘holistic’ healing environment. The Sioux Lookout Meno-Ya-Win Health Center will be a place that provides healing for the physical body, but one that will also provide rejuvenation and healing for the mind and the spirit. The Aboriginal way recognizes the value of providing “well-being” to the body as a whole. We must create a Health Center that provides a positive and nurturing environment. The design will be kept as open as possible, while still ensuring the privacy of all patients. Spaces, such as the waiting area, will be warm, cozy and dimly lit; devoted to initiating the comfort and healing process with each patient upon entry.
The spaces will be concentrated on the symbolism behind the four basic elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. It will connect man with the strength and energy of the elements, such as the sun, by emphasizing the solstice. There will be a free flow and transparency between the main gathering space, nature and all the functions that surround it.
The ideology behind the design of a Health Center is to create a ‘holistic’ healing environment. The Sioux Lookout Meno-Ya-Win Health Center will be a place that provides healing for the physical body, but one that will also provide rejuvenation and healing for the mind and the spirit. The Aboriginal way recognizes the value of providing “well-being” to the body as a whole. We must create a Health Center that provides a positive and nurturing environment. The design will be kept as open as possible, while still ensuring the privacy of all patients. Spaces, such as the waiting area, will be warm, cozy and dimly lit; devoted to initiating the comfort and healing process with each patient upon entry.
The spaces will be concentrated on the symbolism behind the four basic elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. It will connect man with the strength and energy of the elements, such as the sun, by emphasizing the solstice. There will be a free flow and transparency between the main gathering space, nature and all the functions that surround it.