Abstract Original Graphic.

Hey everyone just some more info on the original graphic featured above. I have been using Revit a lot lately and learning the rendering. The graphic is an example of what I have learned thus far. I used components form the Revit program and from the website revitcity.com I hope you enjoy the look of the room I wanted to convey a sense of home and relaxation with the picture Also i wanted to point out some of the features that I will be incorporating in my design. Some of the graphic quality has been lost so if you are wondering what the tags say they are as follows: Pure screen window toxin guard to be applied, Sound control partition shown open, Visiting area, Hardwood flooring, and Personal Lighting . If you have any comments for this picture or question regarding the tags please let me know in the comments below.

Abstract Outline

Hospital Renovation Techniques

Hospital design has come a long way in the last decade. Architects have been improving hospital design aspects each year providing us with new techniques that will help to improve the experiences of those involved with healthcare and reduce the impact of the building on the environment. This report will not be focusing on building new structures, but rather how we can improve existing structures through renovation to make them more comfortable, safe, and sustainable.


The first step in this research project will be to gather as much research as will be necessary on the designs of different hospitals and compare them to determine what works best. A collection of testimonies from nurses to patients will also be studied to help determine the design aspect through different points of view. A floor plan will be drawn at this point to represent the proposed design and show how the building will result in the three goals stated above: comfort, safety, and sustainability. The drawing will act as a base of knowledge that will show how this design can be achieved in a new development. The next step will be to focus on how we can implement this design template into an already existing building.


The project will need to have an in-depth look of an existing hospital design. The hospital chosen for this will be Mills Memorial hospital in Terrace B.C. The hospital will be assessed to see to which extent it meets or falls short of the three goals mentioned above. From here the report will continue on to focus on designing and incorporating new technologies for the renovation.


There are plenty of new technologies that can be incorporated into the renovation. A selection list will be made of the most practical and cost effective methods for updating the existing hospital. Many aspects will be taken into account at this point in the report. Aspects such as sound control, light control, toxin levels, privacy, and long term sustainability will be looked at independently with respect to the view point of an architect, a patient , and a healthcare worker.


The final outcome of the report will be a set of drawings that will effectively show how it is possible to take an existing hospital design and incorporate feature that will bring an older hospital up to date with more modern hospitals. The report will act as a template that can be applied to multiple hospitals, not just Mills Memorial. The report also includes an estimation of the renovation cost and therefore the ability to determine if it is worth it to renovate or more economically sensible to tear down an aging hospital in favour of constructing a new one.


References for this abstract can be found in sidebar to the right.

This is a graphic that I came up with to show how a space that is uncomfortable will not aid in the recovery of a patient. The picture is intended to show the contrast of these two living environments. In my experience with hospitals I have found spaces similar to both these. Newer Hospitals in my mind are much more comfortable and relaxing as opposed to older hospitals. My topic for my project will now be focused on renovating existing hospitals to make them more comfortable, safer, and sustainable.

Pure Screen Windows.

Hey everyone I was just informed of an interesting product from Hailey. Its called Pure Screen and its a fabric clothe that covers and opening and claims to help reduce toxins from entering a space. This would be very useful in a hospital situation especially in rooms that are near to parking lots. feel free to check out the website:

http://www.mysunglow.com/images/pdf/market/purescreen.pdf

Also at this site there is a slide show at the main site that can be downloaded:

http://www.mysunglow.com/

This could be a very simple renovation for many hospitals and it would have a huge impact on the air quality. Just a thought but what if this was applied directly to a hospital bed partition clothe? could it also protect you from catching any airborne illness? if you have any more thoughts or ideas on this feel free to comment below.

Sustainable Hospital Design.

Hey guys, ive just stumbled across some information about a hospital project in Calgary being heading by Neil Mackenzie of HOK Architectural design. The project is aiming for a Leed certification. The Project will involve a renovation of the Peter Lougheed Hospital. A number of different sustainable designs features are going to be incorportated into the such as using fly ash as aggregate ( for more information on using alternative materials for aggegrate in concrete check out Dave Denison's blog @ http://concreteasaggregate.blogspot.com/). For more information the renovation of the Peter Lougheed hospital check out these websites:

http://architecture.suite101.com/article.cfm/sustainable_hospital_design

http://www.hok.com/cfm/NewsArchiveDetail.cfm?Category=Health%20Care&instanceID=cf0b2720-1422-77e3-d2c1-579a82f81bda

http://hokrenew.com/2010/02/01/alberta-health-services-peter-lougheed-centre-renovation-and-addition/

http://www.calgaryhealthregion.ca/capital/peter_lougheed_centre.htm

These websites should give a good idea about the concept of the hospital and what it plans to achieve.

Reasearch Thesis Question.

Hey everyone. Soon I will be writing an abstract and posting it on this blog, in preparing for this I have written a proposed thesis statement. Check it out and please comment if you have any ideas for it.

Thesis Question: How can we design a comfortable health-care environment that is both sustainable and affordable.

Application: Provide patients with comforts of home through innovative technology that will improve sound, privacy, and light control.

I found an Interesting video on youtube concerning hospital design. Chuck Siconolfi talks in this video on how building healing spaces. He has many more videos concerning healthcare design on the website for the HOK architectural firm at www.hoklife.com I encourage you to check this site out there is a lot of progressive architecture featured on it to do with many different design facits.

Check This Out.

Hey Everyone, So I have had some interesting comments from Dale and Dave. They have shown me some websites that have similar ideas to mine. Here they are:

-http://www.unicahome.com/p17121/molo/paper-softwall-by-forsythe-and-macallen-for-molo.html

-http://www.acousticalsurfaces.com/acoustical_drapery/acoustical_curtains.htm

Please check them out they were very helpful for my research.

U-REAP Proposal Form.

Recently Thompson Rivers University has been handing out applications for the U-REAP Comprehensive Enhancement Fund, Defined as U-Reap: Undergraduate Student Research Experience Awarwd Program, Providing an oppurtunity for talented undergraduate students to engage in original independant research, scholarship or the production of creative works. Our class was asked to each write up a proposal with the area of our course material. Here is my proposal that I wrote on Hospital dividers. please read and give feed back.




Summary Statement of Proposed Project

This proposal aims to create a new type of living experience for people residing in healthcare facilities. The project will aim to raise the bar of current living conditions for patients by implementing a new type of partition curtain that will bring with it many features to make a patient feel more as if he/she is at home. The project will be designed so that in can be integrated into existing structures and future developments.

Purpose

The Purpose of this proposal is to create a comfortable living environment for long term patients in healthcare facilities. With the physiological well-being of the patients in mind, the project will work towards helping the patients feel as if they are more at home in a healthcare facility. The benefits of a comfortable patient could have a profound effect on the rate at which patients recover. Comfortable patients would also lead to a better working environment for healthcare workers, which could improve the entire moral of a hospital.

Goals and Objectives of the Project

The immediate goal of this project is to create a prototype of the design to show and test at various healthcare facilities and institutions. In order to build the proposed design, data will need to be collected from various sources to determine what features will be needed. First and foremost the testimonies of patients and healthcare workers will play the most important role in the decisions concerning what needs to be included in the design. Building from information collected from testimonies the design will then proceed to be reviewed by experts in different fields of architecture and engineering. With the combined knowledge of experts and other individuals who will be utilizing the product the project aims to be as efficiently designed as possible. Once the prototype is complete and has been tested the ultimate goal for the partition curtain will be to be decrease the waiting lines for hospital beds in British Columbia by providing patients with a more relaxing atmosphere so that they will in-turn recover faster.

Methodology and Analytical Approach

One of the goals for this project is to be efficient and cost effective, so the design will incorporate as many recyclable and renewable resources as possible. The thinking behind the construction of this curtain will be to increase the comfort and privacy in pre-existing care facilities. The curtain will have to be designed so that it can be easily installed within already existing buildings without taking up any more space than is already being used by the patients. The product will not be effective if it takes away from the number of beds already in use as that would be defeating the ultimate goal of providing more available hospital beds. With installation needs defined the next step will be to design the curtain so that it is easily accessible for the emergency needs of healthcare workers. The cloth will be lightweight as well as retractable either from the floor or roof in the case that a bed must be moved. Each part of the project will be designed according to the British Columbia Building Code-


and will work to exceed the minimum standards. One of the biggest concerns for the design of the cloth is that it will have to act as a sound barrier. An in-depth study of acoustics will be done to determine what material will work best for this and how much resistance to sound is acceptable for an average person to comfortably fall asleep. This is where the testimonials of patients and healthcare workers will be utilized in order to achieve the desired conditions. Along with sound, another concern with sleeping conditions is the amount of light in a room. In this new design a lighting system will be incorporated so that the patient has control over a light that will be connected to the curtain itself. This will help the patient decide when he/she sleeps. This will help greatly if someone were to have a late night guest and did not want to bother other sleeping patients within the same room this will now give patients a nights rest closer to what they would experience at their own home. With the combination of these items included in the design for the partition wall the ultimate goal will hopefully be reached, tested, and put to use in hospital across British Columbia.

How Will This Project Fill a Knowledge Gap?

This Project will work closely with people in hospitals in an effort to build a design that will be precisely what is needed for the clients. The curtain it self will push to develop new soundproofing technology that will be mostly made with sustainable and recyclable materials.

Plans for Dissemination of Work

Plans for dissemination of this project will be broken down in the list that follows

• Gather information from healthcare patients and workers.
• Create a design.
• Review work with registered professionals.
• Create a set of concept drawing and a mock up to dispay at institutions.
• Do an acoustic study and determine the best fit material.
• Design and test an application for installing the curtain.
• Build a prototype of the curtain.
• Review prototype with registered professionals.
• Propose design to local healthcare officials.

Welcome!

Hi Everyone and Welcome to my Blog. I have started this blog to research ways to make hospital design more efficient and more comfortable for Patients and Health-care workers. I will be posting new finds each week to show the progress of my work. You can expect drawings, analytical reports, and even some testimonials from people with experience in this field. What I need from you, the readers is comments please! Your thoughts good or bad will help me out a lot on this project, If there are any suggestions for future topics that I can cover please leave them in the comments box and I will try my best to incorporate them in to my posts. Thanks for viewing my page.