By Mark Schmidt, AIA, CSI CCS, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP, Specification Writer, and Mark Sweeney, AIA, NCARB, Chief Resource Architect I have often been surprised at the thoughtlessness, (resulting in cruelty, quite unintentionally) of friends or of doctors who [...]
The current COVID-19 pandemic has led to elevated cleaning protocols with harsher cleaners, resulting in product failures. As healthcare designers, it is our responsibility to design spaces that protect the health, safety, and welfare of patients, visitors, and staff.
For parts of a hospital that will be replicated multiple times. building a mockup room can be the best way for staff to experience how the room and its features affect patient care.
Concrete slabs contain and continually absorb and emit moisture over time, potentially causing costly problems with impermeable flooring like warping, mold, discoloration, and failure of water-based adhesives. The failure of water-based adhesives is no longer a mystery. The question is how to deal with this reality.
Virtual reality is becoming essential in healthcare design, giving healthcare providers the opportunity to walk in a space before any change, cost, or interruption is made.
WELL complements sustainable building standards and is “a vehicle for buildings and organizations to deliver more thoughtful and intentional spaces that enhance human health and well-being.”
One of the unintended consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and extended lockdowns has been unused office space resulting from employees working from home. Health systems are not immune from this trend, especially with their administrative teams.
Now that designers are often using the same software as rendering tools, how can firms create this branded aesthetic?
Many buildings today are clad with aluminum skins, crisp metal panels in both simple and complex shapes, with limitless color options. To install it in a code-compliant manner, however, requires understanding the various types of aluminum skin and their restrictions.
Smaller healthcare projects such as interior remodels and tenant improvement projects have been traditionally managed through the design-bid-build approach. The question we should raise is, why can’t design-build work even better for the smaller, less complicated projects?
