Thesis Abstract

Globally, healthcare systems are experiencing increasing fiscal demographic and consumer pressure. There have been metamorphic changes in the recent past in terms of healthcare delivery. The planning, design and final architectural expression in health care is reflective of the gradual shift in outlook of healthcare institutions from merely treating the sick to a concerted approach to harness healthy living. This has been triggered by globalization, increased expectations of seekers and providers of healthcare, emphasis on ambulatory/daycare services, enhanced standards of care and the participation of private players in the health sector. Healthcare facilities {in the larger picture Hospitals} are the largest and most complex of all modern institutes. To add pto these complexities are the major transformations that are occurring in the delivery of health care worldwide. It is thus essential that hospitals are planned and designed to meet the requirements of today and tomorrow. Winston Churchill had commented “first we shape our buildings and thereafter they shape us”. This is certainly true for healthcare facilities.    Existing best practices for healthcare facilities include- emerging trends/concepts such as integrated health care facilities, value added services, expandability, green hospitals, healing architecture, life enhancing designs, assisted living facilities, patent focused architecture and humanizing environment. This exercise is a documentation of the research into this branch of medical specialty and its architectural design, emphasizing on the study of an expandable medical facility. The facts, figures and standards of the project were extracted from authoritative sources and presented in this small volume. For the ease of understanding, this write-up basically consists of the definitions, introducing reports explaining the project context including its background/historical reviews, the aim and objective of the project and the analysis of the choice site location and geographical conditions. This work also highlights functional components and technical information on the design of a surgical center and an analytical review of existing projects of the same kind in the form of case studies. A space program was arrived at in order to elucidate the summation of the whole efforts in the research and design of the proposed surgical center. This project write-up is believed to offer a design guide to future surgical center planners and designers, who may need information for the expansion of already existing health facilities or planning of new ones.

Thesis Overview