Authors : Djihane Ma'aï Zeri; Dr. Bwemba Charles; Mahamat Talba

Volume/Issue : Volume 11 - 2026, Issue 9 - September

Google Scholar : https://tinyurl.com/4j4pe575

DOI : https://doi.org/10.38124/ijisrt/26sep341

Note : A published paper may take 4-5 working days from the publication date to appear in PlumX Metrics, Semantic Scholar, and ResearchGate.

Abstract : Anxiety is not produced by architecture alone, yet the built environment can intensify or reduce sensory load, hypervigilance, perceived loss of control, and the difficulty of emotional self-regulation. This critical literature review examines how sensorial architecture can support the spatial regulation of anxiety and establish a design framework for calming centers conceived as non-clinical transitional environments. The review synthesizes architectural phenomenology, environmental psychology, emotion-regulation theory, biophilic design, and evidence on restorative environments. It first traces the shift from visually dominated architecture toward embodied, multisensory experience; then examines anxiety, emotional regulation, and the environmental conditions that can amplify or attenuate distress. The analysis identifies five recurrent spatial variables: tactile and thermally moderate materiality, controlled acoustics, filtered light and shadow, breathable and biophilic microclimates, and enveloping but legible spatial form. These variables are translated into a calming-center sequence combining decompression thresholds, retreat alcoves, adjustable sensory rooms, gradual reconnection spaces, and restorative outdoor areas. Three precedents, Maggie's Oldham, Helsingør Psychiatric Hospital, and De Hogeweyk, are compared to test how domesticity, landscape access, spatial legibility, user choice, and familiar social settings can reduce institutional stress. The review concludes that effective calming architecture depends less on spectacular form than on calibrated sensory intensity, clear orientation, graded privacy, user agency, and a continuous relationship with nature. These principles provide the theoretical basis for a calming center intended to support emotional recovery without reproducing the visual codes of psychiatric institutionalization.

Keywords : Anxiety; Biophilic Design; Calming Center; Emotional Regulation; Healing Environments; Sensorial Architecture; Therapeutic Atmospheres; User Agency.

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