Healthcare spaces: how should they be designed?

You don't need to be an expert to know that building a healthcare space is a complex and time-consuming process. After all, it is on your planning and design that the final result depends, both in terms of comfort and results. But how to do it strategically? Discover some notions in this article!

What is the role of architecture in promoting health?

According to the World Health Organization, thehealth statusIt does not just refer to the absence of disease. Instead, it includes the physical, mental and social well-being of the population.

Therefore, healthcare spaces are expected to be true promoters of well-being, placing issues such as usability and safety at the center of the discussion. After all, healthcare spaces must respond to the needs and demands of the population, proposing new behaviors and suggesting new lifestyles. A context where the built space must keep up with the growing complexity linked to the provision of health services, presenting new and improved forms of use.

Healthcare spaces: good design practices

Healthcare spaces must be highly articulated “organisms”, in terms of function and convenience. More than ever, they must be designed to adapt, continuously and repeatedly, to technological innovations and social changes.

Consequently,architects and designersthey must use flexibility as a fundamental requirement for the design of healthcare spaces, taking into account multiple users and diverse functionalities. This means that any and all structures designed to provide health care and services must have a natural propensity for versatility, being highly adaptable, both in terms of layout and performance.

Furthermore, although it is essential to guarantee all order and orientation requirements, it is also essential to provide for thehumanizationof spaces, in order to favor the recovery of users. In 1965,Le Corbusierargued that the starting point for designing a healthcare space should be the user.

In other words, by introducing a series of “domestic” elements into the design of healthcare spaces, such as plants, low tables or armchairs, it is possible to create a family environment that encourages well-being. Here, it is also essential to guarantee the privacy of users, designing separate and welcoming environments, capable of encouraging rest and recovery.

The design of Clinics and Hospitals

In healthcare establishments, such asclinicsor hospitals, connection routes must guide the flow of people, being easily identifiable and recognizable. As such, using special lighting, colors, materials and shapes capable of making these spaces distinct, it is possible to streamline the flow of users and work flows. After all, the introduction of these elements helps to mitigate the monotony of the routes, stimulating interest and attention.

Finally, when it comes to designing waiting and reception areas, it is necessary to guarantee easy access to information, linking these areas toservice roomsand administrative offices. Therefore, the convenience and functionality of these spaces often have as much impact on the quality of healthcare as the availability of the latest healthcare equipment. These spaces must be designed together, considering all users, from healthcare professionals to users.

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