Munashe Mombo

This research explores how phenomenological approaches to architectural design can re-imagine rehabilitative and institutional care environments for children with cerebral palsy (CP) in order to foster independence, social engagement, and mental and physical healing. Cerebral Palsy,  a neurological condition affecting movement and coordination, that is often linked to preventable birth injuries, remains a major contributor to medical negligence claims in South Africa. Beyond the clinical and legal implications, there is an ongoing spatial neglect: many rehabilitation facilities remain sterile, overly clinical, and disconnected from the sensory and emotional lives of their users.

Grounded in architectural phenomenology and child developmental theory, this study investigates how children experience and make sense of space.  Through theoretical frameworks observed by Juhani Pallasmaa, Gaston Bachelard, Jean Piaget, and Roger Ulrich, it discusses the spatial experiences of children from various backgrounds, the significance of ‘home’ as a blueprint for intimacy and imaginative freedom and critiques the impersonal and institutional nature of conventional care facilities. It calls for a shift toward environments that are therapeutic through a more  domestic, legible, and socially engaging nature. The research employs a qualitative methodology, combining caregiver interviews, observations at care facilities such as Little Eden, and precedent studies including One Kid’s Place and Maggie’s Oldham. From this research, three key design principles became apparent. The first was giving children a sense of agency within their spaces, the second, creating layered sensory environments that support rehabilitation through the integration of therapy and play and lastly the practices of everyday routines that affirm a sense of dignity and importance.

The design outcome proposes a wellness and rehabilitation centre next to Thelle Mogoerane Regional Hospital in Vosloorus, Gauteng. The project aims to de-institutionalize traditional rehabilitation settings by embedding therapy within a network of interconnected courtyards, play areas, and domestic-scaled interiors that priorities freedom, comfort, and a balance between privacy and engagement. By re-framing rehabilitation as a lived and shared experience rather than a purely medical process, the design seeks to restore a degree of independence , encourage healing through participation and play , and create an environment that supports the physical and emotional  well-being of both children with CP and their caregivers.