Drug Rehabilitation Center, Badagry, Lagos State (Architecture As A Tool for Rehabiltation and Resenttlement)

The worldwide struggle to proffer functional solutions and possible preventive measures to drug/substance abuse and addiction has been going on for ages. Pharmaceutical industries have been on more than a decade long search for a cure for addiction without any major breakthrough, leaving most experts torn between various methods of approaching substance addiction. The orthodox methods of treatment for drug addiction is by the seclusion of the addicts from the society or the combination of both in-patient and out-patient system to aid in wholesome rehabilitation. However, this thesis proposes that architecture can be uses also as a tool to create a controlled environment promoting rehabilitation, resettlement and that also allows for community integration helping to establish a conducive standard for addiction rehabilitation. This is possible because the effects of factors such as sound, light, color, privacy, views, and even smell, texture and finishes can be employed using architecture to promote a healing environment and also psychological healing of drug addicts. Ultimately, this thesis introduces the concept of an integrated community rehabilitation and wellness centre in one of the most notorious urban environments in Western Nigeria, Badagry. The city in popular for being a major settling point for drug smugglers, largely due to its proximity to the Seme Border. The idea is to demonstrate that a healing environment can be enhanced using architecture and natural environment as a tool for reconnecting inhabitants with their environment and ultimately, rediscovering themselves.