Healthcare architects seek to deliver the most functional and empathetic design possible for the given need—functional for the owner (client) and emphathetic for the patient (user). In no small way, good healthcare architects use a combination of past experience, research and stepping inside the footsteps of the patient to create an ideal spatial solution. The… [Read more…]
July 29, 2010
When architect peers ask me why I work in integrated design build (IDB), I have many reasons to choose from. But one of the most obvious for me is time spent in the field. Time in the field, or “on site”, is a return to the craftsman and master builder guild traditions. It is seeing… [Read more…]
July 28, 2010
A hospital campus’s outdoor spaces take a back seat to bona fide treatment areas inside; however, the outside should not be discounted as a productive part of the hospital environment, especially in picturesque and less urban areas. A hospital’s exterior can complement building interiors, provide overflow capacity, allow for relaxation and mental breaks, and enhance… [Read more…]
July 26, 2010
Depending on who you talk to and your own biases toward data and learning, information in the year 2010 can be a really great thing or an absolute distraction. Information today poses more questions than answers. Not only do we have more access to information, but we have more of it. And that information creates… [Read more…]
July 25, 2010
The June issue of Buildings showcases 81 money-saving products for projects. By my count the largest percentage, over 25% (22 of 81), base their value on energy or resource savings; this includes IT or systems products that help track energy consumption. The remaining products are sprinkled among: safety / risk mitigation, cleaning and infection control, reduced maintenance,… [Read more…]
July 23, 2010
A few weeks ago I attended the National Rural Health Association’s Annual Rural Health Conference and was able to immerse myself in a different realm of the healthcare industry, rural care. As I pondered healthcare and design from the slightly scaled down and small town perspective, I asked myself what would happen if the only… [Read more…]
July 21, 2010
Lean methods are not news, but are an important aspect of Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) and seem to be getting a lot of ink lately. Lean is featured in trade magazines and on blogs, in AIA newsletters, and have been in heavy rotation on the convention circuit this year. For those with no background in Lean knowledge,… [Read more…]
July 19, 2010
See previous post “Healthcare IT: Microsoft’s View, Part I” The following excerpts are taken from Microsoft’s white paper ”Knowledge Driven Health: The Next Wave of Innovation in Healthcare”. I could not manage to locate it again on the web again; I believe it is from 2008. In lieu of a weblink, I have provided a Cliff’s Notes version… [Read more…]
July 18, 2010
Construction is a difficult industry to figure out, loosely held together by a desire on the part of builders to realize the structures that will serve society into the future. No one will mistake construction for Silicon Valley, and it is a rare event to hear the adjectives “progressive”, “innovative”, “cutting edge” or ”entrepreneurial” used in the context of construction. In… [Read more…]
July 16, 2010
Recently I read the feature article in Healthcare Building Ideas’ Spring 2010 issue about a case study in “right-sizing” healthcare. It focused on a project case study with a large Lean component. Part of the article included these two sentences: “The current standard in healthcare design is to provide a completely flexible space that can… [Read more…]
July 31, 2010
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