Designing a healthcare building demands considering various elements compared to any commercial construction because of attention to sick person safety & privacy and standard regulations. Here are the primary design characteristics of a healthcare building:
Sound Barriers
When designing healthcare buildings, it’s pivotal to keep patient safety in mind in general. However, most architectural designers don’t think about the space’s acoustics in most cases. To interact with the patients privately, you’ll have to incorporate some elements into the healthcare building design to suck up the sound to ensure it does not go to the rest of the exam rooms.
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Flat roof insulation
Flat roof insulation works well for acoustics and the environment. The absence of pitched rooms ensures that there is only less space for sound travel. Here, flat roof insulation plays a climacteric role by immediately sucking up sound whenever it hits it. For pitched roofs, you’ll have to lay a flat insulation layer to prevent sound carrying.
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White ceiling tiles
The white ceiling tiles you see from time to time in medical buildings and offices play an indispensable role. They feature a soft material that helps a lot in barring sound. For a sheetrock ceiling, sound reflects right of the roof and goes throughout the structure.
Cleanliness
Every medical field surface needs to remain durable and quickly cleaned & disinfected. You should always avoid cross-contamination between sick individuals. Always aim to create sterility and give an overall clean space for patient safety and regulatory bodies.
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Flooring
Flooring falls under the healthcare building spaces that go wrong when it comes to cleanliness. Most individuals will go for tile or vinyl. But, the issue with vinyl flooring is that it does not withstand very long to accurate cleaning schedules. Tiles form grout lines that you’ll find hard to clean.
Stained concrete floors are the best alternatives to consider because you can clean them easily, and they can withstand heavy traffic and repeated cleaning. Besides this, stained concrete floors also look nice.
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Finishings
Consider interior finishings, from wall paints to storage and counter surfaces. Anything in healthcare buildings or facilities can get contaminated with body fluids or blood and needs to be quickly cleaned. Therefore, consider going for an interior finishing that you can quickly wide down using several cleaning methods.
For a fabric finishing, such as curtains, ensure that you can wash them as required. However, it’s crucial to avoid a fabric finishing in patient contact areas. For example, ensure that the exam room chairs are not bolstered fabric. You can go for vinyl chairs that you can wipe with less hassle.
Accessibility
Consider the people who will visit the healthcare building from time to time. The elderly, injured, sick, and more are likely to enter the building and maneuver through it. Therefore, it’s vital to consider accessibility.
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Ramps
Flat entrance for healthcare buildings always plays an indispensable role for accessibility reasons. If you plan to fix stairs, consider including a ramp that works well with a wheelchair. Avoid steep ramps that patients will find it hard to roll up against them.
Remember, not all individuals have someone to help them while visiting the healthcare building. Therefore, it’s vital to go for flat entranceways and even include ADA-compliant ramps with handrails.
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Doorways
A healthcare building hosts individuals of all sizes. Therefore, it’s all-important to have tall and wide doorways. Also, other individuals will use crutches, walkers, or wheelchairs to get through the doors.
Spacing
You’ll find it more cost-effective to have small exam rooms. After all, you’ll only need to host two individuals in each room. However, it’s all-important to consider that other patients will bring walkers, wheelchairs, or aides with them. Also, other cases will need more space. Therefore, it’s vital to have spacious exam rooms.
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