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The Influence of Landscape Views on Healthcare User Experience

Abstract

Landscape views are an important environmental feature in healthcare facilities because visual connections to vegetation, gardens, courtyards, and natural outdoor spaces can influence how patients, visitors, and healthcare workers experience the built environment. Healthcare settings are often associated with stress, uncertainty, and extended periods of waiting or treatment, making supportive environmental conditions particularly valuable. Providing views toward well-designed landscapes can introduce natural elements into interior spaces and potentially improve comfort, satisfaction, and the overall perception of the healthcare environment. This study examines the influence of landscape views on healthcare user experience. It focuses on how visual access to gardens, trees, planted areas, courtyards, water features, and other landscape elements affects patients, visitors, and healthcare staff. The study considers user perceptions of comfort, relaxation, environmental quality, satisfaction, and connection with nature. It also examines how the location and orientation of windows, patient rooms, waiting areas, treatment spaces, and circulation zones influence opportunities for meaningful landscape views. The quality and accessibility of landscape views can vary according to building orientation, window placement, floor level, landscape design, and surrounding development. Windows positioned toward attractive gardens or courtyards may provide users with restorative visual experiences, while views toward parking areas, service zones, or poorly maintained outdoor spaces may offer limited environmental value. The composition, scale, visibility, and seasonal variation of vegetation can also influence how users perceive landscape views within healthcare settings. The study further considers the relationship between landscape views and psychological as well as environmental comfort. Natural views may provide visual distraction from clinical activities and create a sense of openness and connection to the outdoors. Vegetation can also contribute to daylighting, shading, privacy, and microclimatic improvement when appropriately integrated with building design. However, landscape views should be carefully planned to avoid compromising patient privacy, infection-control requirements, security, or functional healthcare operations. Different healthcare users may respond to landscape views according to their needs, length of stay, location within the facility, and type of healthcare service being provided. Patients in rooms and waiting areas may have different visual requirements from staff working in clinical or administrative spaces. The accessibility and quality of views may also vary between ground and upper floors. Understanding these differences can support more inclusive design approaches that provide beneficial visual connections to nature across different areas of a healthcare facility. The study aims to assess the influence of landscape views on healthcare user experience and identify architectural and landscape strategies for improving visual connections to natural environments. It is expected to contribute to a better understanding of how window orientation, landscape composition, spatial planning, and visual accessibility influence comfort and satisfaction in healthcare facilities. The findings can provide useful guidance for architects, landscape designers, healthcare planners, and facility managers in developing supportive environments that integrate natural views with functional healthcare requirements.

Keywords: Landscape views, Healthcare user experience, Healthcare architecture, Healing environments, Biophilic design, Natural views, Patient experience, Landscape design, Visual comfort, Therapeutic environment, Window orientation, Healthcare planning, Psychological comfort, Nature connection.