Unit: 

Interior Design

Facilitator: Francis Mutua

Tel no:0714480472

Email: francismutua2017@gmail.com

Lesson objective

By the end of the lesson students should be able to;

a)     Discuss interior basics for

 Healthcare
 Institution

 DESIGN BASICS FOR HEALTH CARE

 Principles of modern healthcare interiors that are proven to improve patient wellbeing
and speed-up recovery.

1) Access to Natural Light

Natural light has a huge impact on health and wellness, helping to regulate the body’s
sleeping patterns and circadian rhythms. Studies have shown that exposure to natural light in
healthcare facilities leads to a 12% improvement in patient recovery time - as well as
lowering stress and absence levels of healthcare staff.

2) Views of Nature

Much like natural light, views of nature have been found to have similar positive impacts on
healing and recovery times. They also have a positive impact on the mental and emotional
wellbeing of patients, helping to reduce anxiety and stress.
While some healthcare facilities may be located in areas with views of nature on the doorstep,
others will have to specifically design these views. There are several options for providing
patients with views of nature from their rooms:

•Designing gardens around the outside of the building which can be viewed from patient
rooms

•Creating murals showing views of nature - much less desirable than real nature views, but
can still create a restful, calming environment.

•Building an indoor garden, for example in the building atrium, that is available for all
building users to enjoy.

3) Improved Acoustics

Numerous studies have explored the impact of noise levels in healthcare environments. In
hospitals, elevated noise levels can lead to disrupted sleep and increased stress levels in
patients, which in turn affects blood pressure and heart rate.

Background noise levels in hospitals and other healthcare settings will always be higher than
in other indoor environments, due to the number of people in the space, and the amount of
equipment in use around the clock. However, there are a few design tweaks that can be made
to reduce the acoustical impact of these noise sources.

Reducing reverberation can offer a big acoustic improvement, as sound won't travel as far.
Installing acoustical ceiling tiles can be a big help. Additionally, you may want to consider
installing luxury vinyl tile flooring, which offers the best acoustic profile of all hard flooring
types.

 
4) Increased Privacy

Privacy has a significant impact on patients' emotional and mental wellbeing. One of the best
ways to design better privacy into healthcare settings is to provide single-occupancy rooms
rather than multi-patient wards.

This offers visual and personal privacy, as well as a sense of increased control over their
personal environment which can help to reduce anxiety. Single-occupancy rooms also offer a
significant reduction in acoustic disturbances, especially at night, meaning patients are more
comfortable and sleep better.

5) Control Over Individual Environments

Having control over their individual environment can provide a significant boost to patient's
emotional and mental wellbeing. When designing a modern healthcare facility, you may want
to consider designing patient rooms that provide individual control over:

•Bed position - so patients can make themselves comfortable by adjusting their own bed
position rather than waiting on nursing staff to help them.

•Temperature - both heating and air conditioning.

•Lighting - with dimmable lights and electric-operated blinds or shutters, so they can be
opened or closed as required.

•Noise levels - music or television volume.

Providing patients with a degree of control over their environment during a hospital stay can
help to lower stress and anxiety levels, which helps with healing and recovery as well as
making the hospital stay more comfortable.
With the growing attention accorded to health nowadays, good interior design is becoming a
central consideration when it comes to healthcare facilities.

Natural elements for health care interiors

Using light, color and texture to bring the outdoors inside

The most appropriate solutions for complex medical environments will take cues from the
exterior environment in a holistic and inclusive way with lighting, color and textural
elements.

1. Light

Ceilings in health care facilities should be light in color and bright in lumens. Various types
of indirect lighting can create ceilings that glow with optimism. Dark ceilings, on the other
hand, often can have the opposite effect on individuals.

Health care environments should reserve dark ceilings for select spaces where the patients
and visitors do not spend a great deal of time.

Elevator lobbies, exit stairs and main corridors should be illuminated more brightly than
adjacent units or patient care areas to give wayfinding cues.

The inclusion of windows within a long hallway or at the end of a corridor provides
beneficial natural light as well as natural views during daytime hours.

Light-colored, highly polished flooring should be avoided. These floors reflect light from
downlights in the ceiling as well as incoming light from exterior windows. Often, the result is
glare so harsh that it reduces the ability to see clearly and also causes undue stress on
physiological systems. Additionally, glare can cause eyestrain, headaches and fatigue.

combination of indirect artificial lighting along with exterior windows to provide plenty of
natural light during the day is the best solution.

2. Color
Young adults, middle-aged people and seniors all benefit from the broad use of color applied
to interiors.

Studies suggest that some of the best environments for health and healing incorporate a
variety of hues, use both warm and cool tones, and vary color saturation.

Throughout the facility, it is important to include a variety of different colors for a balanced
approach in creating an aesthetically pleasing environment.

Strong differentiation in color value and tone can assist with wayfinding, aid those with
visual impairments and provide a more lively, upbeat interior.

Contrast is important between seating and floor for the sight impaired as well as between sink
or countertop and floor, or toilet and floor. However, designers should use strong contrast on
the floors with caution in some areas. Individuals with dementia or visual problems can
mistake strong contrast for a step or a hole in the floor.

3. textures

People of all ages and abilities feel more comfortable when walking on firm ground with
good traction. Flooring in a medium or medium dark color and tone is preferred in health care
settings. The floors should not be extremely light, bright or white. The surface should not
have a highly polished, glossy finish or a high sheen nor be slick underfoot.

The embossed texture adds to the slip-resistance by preventing shoes from hydroplaning in
the event of liquid spills

Carpet is a good flooring choice as well. It provides excellent traction, no glare and no risk of
slipping, and the fear of falling is reduced. Carpet benefits staff, too, by helping to minimize
foot fatigue. It also reduces and absorbs ambient noise, another reason why carpet is specified
often for corridors and hallways. However, it’s important to remember that corridor carpets
should not include padding or a cushion-back because it makes wheeled traffic difficult.

The Complexities of Hospital Interior Design

Unlike other commercial establishments, hospitals are made up of several functional units,
each of which has vastly different requirements and functions.
A functional interior design can make a hospital more comfortable, convenient, and efficient,
whereas a bad interior design can impede on the proper execution of different activities.

It may likewise result to an increase in costs and, in worst case scenario, hinder the delivery
of quality healthcare.

Despite the great importance accorded to function and efficiency when it comes to hospital
interior design, it must be noted that there remain other important considerations.

In addition to ensuring the comfort of the patients and the mobility of the staff, hospitals must
be designed in such a way so as to make them equally pleasing to visitors and children.

At present, the trend is geared towards replicating a therapeutic, even homely, environment in
healthcare establishments.

Hospital Interior Design: Important Considerations

There are a number of important considerations that must be taken into account

Factors to consider when planning the design of a hospital’s interior.

•Efficiency. Since hospitals are geared towards rendering health services efficiently, one of
the top considerations in hospital interior design is practicability. On top of maximizing
space, good hospital interior design should also promote staff efficiency and allow for easy
staff supervision.

•Sanitation. A hospital’s interior design must also pay particular attention to cleanliness.
Spaces must be easy to clean, so as to ensure that no places are left un-sanitized.

•Accessibility. Given the nature of hospitals, its interior design must comply with prevailing
requirements on accessibility to ensure that people with disabilities—be it permanent or
temporary—can easily navigate the premises.

•Safety. Given that the people staying in hospitals are mostly recuperating, it is necessary
that the interiors be designed in such a way that the patients’ safety is ensured. For example,
considerable precautions must be observed to ensure that potentially dangerous places such as
stairs and railings will not cause accidents.

•Ambience. Hospitals tend to be stressful places. As such, there is a great need for hospitals
to ensure that the environment is as comfortable and pleasing as possible, so as not to impede
the recovery of patients. One way of doing this is by integrating the use of natural light into
the interior design, in order to create a refreshing and homely atmosphere.

In the same way that interior design plays a crucial role in residential areas and business
establishments, it also plays an important part in the healthcare industry.

In particular, hospital interior design focuses both on the allocation and utilization of space,
specifically tailoring it to the needs of the people using and occupying it.

furniture goals that are to adopted and practiced by healthcare facilities as part of the effort to
achieve better healthcare outcomes, also keeping in mind patient safety concerns.

•Reduce surface contamination linked to healthcare associated infections

•Reduce patient falls and associated injuries

•Decrease medication errors

•Improve communication and social support for patients and family members

•Decrease patient, family member, and staff stress and fatigue

•Improve staff effectiveness, efficiency, and communication

•Improve environmental safety

•Represent the best investment

INTERIOR DESIGN BASICS FOR INSTITUTIONAL

Institutional environments include financial institutions, government offices, religious
buildings, schools, universities, and other similar facilities. So how do you go about creating
a successful interior design for an institution? Here are several tips to help you out.

•Always start with the help of an interior design expert who specializes in institutions.
This type of design differs from other types because it involves larger scale buildings that
must look a certain way while still embodying some sort of personality. It is never advisable
to embark on institutional interior design without the help of a professional.

•Never make any changes without consulting local building regulations. All buildings are
subject to local building regulations, but institutions especially must take great care to follow
the rules. Rewiring electricity, moving walls, and adding plumbing are all major tasks that
must be done according to building regulations. Only an interior design expert stays on top of
these constantly changing rules and regulations.

•Make sure the institution’s “personality” is already established. We’ve all been in

institutions that are completely generic-looking, and they have a certain level of coldness
that’s just not appealing. However, a professional designer can take the traditional
institutional space and turn it into something that’s warm and inviting. Institutions must set
the tone for those who visit them, and if you can create an atmosphere that’s memorable, then
people will be likely to come back.

•The coloring of the building is important as well in the world of institutional design. Of
course, the institution’s “personality” is the first thing to take into consideration, and then the
“personality” will weigh in on the colors that end up being incorporated. Look for ways to
utilize the logo and other features of the institution’s identity. This will help you create a
space that’s not only functional but also specific to that institution.

•Perform all changes with both form and function in mind. After all, personality is one
thing, but if the building has too much of it, you may discover that the space becomes less
functional than it was before. Your primary mission should be to keep the space as functional
as possible and even to solve some problems with the existing design.
Review question

1. Discuss what converts a space to become a place

2. Discuss design basics for health care
3. Discuss design basics for institutions

Link for further studies

http://www.acmehospitalprojects.com/healthcare-facility-planning-and-design.html

http://www.acmehospitalprojects.com/healthcare-facility-planning-and-design.html

Brockliss, Lawrence, and Colin Jones. "The Hospital in the Enlightenment," in The Medical World
of Early Modern France (Oxford UP, 1997), pp. 671–729; covers France 1650–1800