ARTS AND HEALTH SINGAPORE REPOSITORY
An Online Database Charting Arts and Health Development in Singapore.
Design for Health and
Wellbeing-related Practices
National Gallery Singapore
Calm Room
The Calm Room was designed with the neurodivergent community in mind but aims to be inclusive for all visitors. Visitors can choose to visit the Calm Room when they are feeling over-stimulated or overwhelmed by their environment. Key design elements include modular seating, as well as flexible lighting and soundscapes. Sensory items and accessibility resources are also available for loan. The Calm Room is located at level B1 of the City Hall Wing, in the Spine Hall.
Developing the Gallery Calm Room – A journey of creating an accessible space for inclusion and well-being (Teng, 2025)
This paper explores the journey taken by the National Gallery Singapore towards the opening of their Calm Room. It focuses on the process of designing a community centred-space, to its eventual implementation, along with feedback received and key learning points. The Calm Room was designed in collaboration with the neurodivergent community, through the involvement of autistic Singaporean artist-researcher Dr Dawn-joy Leong as the project’s Community Consultant. Information was gathered through sensory probe kits, group discussions and online questionnaires with neurodivergent individuals. Upon implementation, feedback received from visitors and front-of-house staff affirmed the Calm Room as a highly valuable accessibility resource, serving as an inclusive space for all. The facility was found to be beneficial for self-care, as evidenced by its consistent usage of visitors and Gallery staff. Overall, the findings showcase the significance of collaboration, user‑centric design, and continuous improvement in creating and sustaining an accessible and beneficial resource.
Tan Tock Seng Hospital
Centre for Health Innovation (CHI)
Established in 2016, the Centre for Health Innovation provides a platform for healthcare professionals, staff, and like-minded partners to share and co-create ideas for healthcare innovation and care transformation. CHI currently boasts the largest co-learning healthcare innovation network involving local and overseas partners. The network has three strategic thrusts: Build Thought Leadership, Drive Workforce Transformation, Enable Healthcare Training. The CHI Living Lab (CHILL) is an example of CHI’s effort to create a space to connect innovators with resources such as designers, consultants, engineers, programmers, researchers and medical technologists, to innovates process, enhances patient care and experience through service design, as well as prototypes physical and digital products to support health and care.
Healing and Patient-Centred Hospital Designs
New public hospitals built in the recent decade have focused on improved ward layouts and creating a radical new design to enhance the hospital experience for patients and staff. The ‘patient-centredness’ design is set to create a healing and therapeutic environment through the use of greenery as well as giving considerations for each facility within the hospitals designed to cater to patient needs such as creating a greater sense of privacy, improving access and supporting patients rehabilitation. Some of the leading and award-winning examples include: Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (est. 2010) and Ng Teng Fong General Hospital (est 2015)