Rx for Health: A plant-forward diet celebrated
       
     
Biophilic design was used to connect humans to nature...
       
     
...through earth, water, plants and fractal patterns found in nature.
       
     
Food is being realized by medicine as a most effective drug.
       
     
Through food, we are all doctors for ourselves and family...
       
     
...but learning about food should include our MD's too.
       
     
Docs are beginning to prescribe food as the cure.
       
     
Rx for Health: A plant-forward diet celebrated
       
     
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Rx for Health: A plant-forward diet celebrated

At the Garden Cafe @ 75 Francis Partners Healthcare boldly promotes healthier food choices, eliminates fried food, and brings nutrition and health education to patients, staff and visitors. A forward-thinking food master plan for the Brigham Women’s campus prior to this project brought tangible results through this design by connecting healthy cooking + high-flavor food profiles with nature + light to make a prescription for healthy and sustainable living for patients, visitors, staff and researchers.

As research break-throughs in science reveal the secrets of the human microbiome, a clear pathway toward healthier dining is revealed, and through this venue’s design, researchers and doctors can bring this information straight to the people through cooking classes and demos.

Learn more about the Garden Cafe @ 75 Francis…

Collaborators: designed with Bruner/Cott Architects + CAMA Inc.

Foodservice Design: Colburn & Guyette

Biophilic design was used to connect humans to nature...
       
     
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Biophilic design was used to connect humans to nature...

Studies have proven that a connection to nature shortens healing times, so it was critical to add daylight and views to this venue. The entire concrete facade on the second floor tower was removed to allow floor to ceiling glazing to bring in daylight and connection to circadian light. Frit grass patterns on the glass provide natural shadows.

...through earth, water, plants and fractal patterns found in nature.
       
     
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...through earth, water, plants and fractal patterns found in nature.

The central element of the design, a 90’ long planter balcony between towers, gives this urban cafe an injection of nature and its colors and shapes. Branch-like oak limbs crisscross the ceiling, adding biophilic fractal patterning to the very sterile modernist towers.

Food is being realized by medicine as a most effective drug.
       
     
+
Food is being realized by medicine as a most effective drug.

Twelve hospitals in PA are prescribing food to patients that they prescribe from on-site markets. We have added a video-capture pop-up platform for cooking, food and nutrition educational classes that can be shared on the hospitals cable system and shared with diners in the cafe.

Through food, we are all doctors for ourselves and family...
       
     
+
Through food, we are all doctors for ourselves and family...

By quadrupling the whole and raw foods space and placing it near the entrance, we inherently promote healthier options.

...but learning about food should include our MD's too.
       
     
+
...but learning about food should include our MD's too.

Learning about nutrition through cooking classes on a mobile cooking pop-up, and through live demos during mealtime gets the word out to patients, visitors, and stress-eating staff prone to comfort food over-consumption.

Docs are beginning to prescribe food as the cure.
       
     
+
Docs are beginning to prescribe food as the cure.

The design team pushed the nutrition envelope by eliminating inherently unhealthy cooking methods such as deep-fat frying, and quadrupled the real estate afforded to whole and plant-based foods.

Sugary beverage offerings have been minimized, and healthier options like infused waters and herbal teas are promoted in attractive vessels.