New Hospital Design – How to go About

Our last hospital design article on fire escapes for disabled, based on a client query has proved very popular with the hospitaldesigntips.com visitors. We received numerous enquiries and requests for further advice. I thought it would be beneficial to share one such request and our response to a medical general practitioner from India requesting:

We are planning for a multi specialty hospital in 1.5 acres. we need advice for the building plan and how to go about?

Response:

Dear Dr. David,

Please take the time out to describe the hospital and specialties in at least one A4 sized page for me to be able to help you how to approach your project. In the absence of much knowledge about the hospital, I can advise as follows:

Invite 3 major architect firms who have planned at least one hospital project in your country as “Lead” consultants. Give them all the detailed brief of what you want built in your hospital and ask to present the artists impressions and 1:200 scale drawings of departmental adjacencies and essential rooms for the specialties.

Once they present their high level design and approximate costs, appoint the firm that presents the best design and proves that they can lead the project and co-ordinate the design with Mechanical & Electrical (M&E) and Civil and Structural (C & S) engineering consultants. On the architects recommendation, appoint these engineering consultants and develop the design to be built.

Also appoint a consultancy/consultant who will advise you on what medical equipment is state of the art for your hospital departments and what services are required and let the architecture, M&E and C&S consultants co-ordinate so the building has the correct services for the equipment you will eventually purchase, e.g. the x-ray machine will have the correct floor trunking, and wall and ceiling mounted power and data outlets and steel the ceiling to support the x-ray ceiling mounted rail.

Once the architectural and engineering services design is on its way, appoint a construction company on the architects recommendation to build the building and then further appoint contractors who will do the interior fit-out i.e. walls, doors, ceilings, equipment, flooring, paint etc etc etc.

The architects should also draw up the programme of all above activities and the sequence of events.

I hope the above gives you a fair idea of high level events that take place in initial hospital design process.

kind regards,

Harry McQue.