Design Thesis | Selection: Environmental

Depression is the world's number one cause of disorder; it affects about 10.7% in 1996 and 29.9% of the adult population in 2015. (the National Morbidity Survey, 2020). It has gone up almost three times in just 20 years. Mental illness is expected to be the second biggest health issue after heart disease, affecting Malaysians by 2020. In three out of ten years, kids are suffering mental health issues, with or without their realization. (National Health and Morbidity Survey,2020). In the science and lay press, vitamin D has been identified as an essential factor that can have significant health benefits in preventing and treating many chronic diseases, including mental depression and anxiety. Sunlight is one of the best natural healing medicines to heal depression and anxiety. Research shows, exposure to sunlight regulates Vitamin D, Serotonin, and Melatonin hormones in the body. The control for the amount of natural daylight into therapy hall is crucial to create a therapeutic environment for users during their therapy. However, the research shows that artificial lighting solutions become dominant to provide the easiest solution for indoor space, especially in Malaysia. It indirectly leads to high building energy consumption, a lack of natural environment consideration, and a sustainable architecture part. Therefore, proposing a responsive façade design solution for indoor or outdoor, especially in terms of the healing environment, is the best solution. The purpose is to examine natural daylighting design by integrating opening, shading strategies that allow the appropriate amount of natural lighting to hit specific spaces. The strategies have also been tested with few simulation methods in order to identify and prove the best design strategy and to plan as per standard requirement based on MS 1525: 2014.