Royal College of Art graduate Amy Shao has proposed converting a central London hospital into a hotel, which would naturally treat guests with herbs that sprout from the roof, ceiling and walls.
Titled Herbalist Hotel, the project was designed by Shao in the final year of her interior design masters course at the Royal College of Art (RCA).
It would see Guy's Hospital – which was established in 1721 and still operates today – converted into guest accommodation that employs herbs to treat Londoners suffering from stress-related ailments.
"From my own experience of living in London, I realised the working environment is rather competitive and the commuting hours are long enough to make people feel anxious," Shao explained to Dezeen.
"Therefore I wanted to create an environment that could ease the tension of life by having fun and learning about herbs."
The graduate, who claims natural medicines are "more mild and have less side effects compare to drugs," initially became interested in the treatment method following a visit to London's Chelsea Physic Garden, which originally opened in the 17th century as a place to grow medicinal plants.
The hotel would feature a series of suites each themed around a different herb and its health benefits – for example, eucalyptus rooms would nurse weak immune systems, while calming lavender rooms would aim to improve sleep patterns.
Space would also be dedicated to a lab-like room where herbs can be cultivated indoors, adding to those which would also be grown on the hotel's roof.
Renderings show that suites would be completed in a muted colour palette, furnished with ample wooden or green-toned furnishings that visually nod towards the herbs on site.
Similar to Shao, RCA graduate Louise Nissen suggested changing an abandoned lido in British seaside town Margate into a respiratory clinic which would help Londoner's affected by the city's poor air quality.