510
Generalized Needs and Requirements: Hospital Requirements
4. relocation of building components, e.g. partitions;
5. major demolition and reconstruction of building components; and
6. expansion of the facility.
512.2.3
The building system should provide for convenient accessibility to and a
rational organization of service subsystems.
The most frequent demand for change in hospitals involves services. The
keys to efficient service alteration are accessibility and rational
organization of distribution routing. Accessibility implies sufficient work
space as well as reasonably convenient access. The organization of
routing implies preplanned zoning of the service space to preclude
interference of distribution sub-systems. Such preplanning can make
better use of space currently wasted and can provide for future expansion
on a rational basis.
Current problems are, in part, the result of an attitude toward building
design characterized by designation of service space as "non-assignable"
and therefore deserving of reduction to an absolute minimum. This has
proved to be false economy in the context of long term costs, but the
attitude persists because of the presumed high first cost of providing
services with their own functional space sized, designed, and laid out
according to their own requirements. The growing density of services in a
modern hospital makes it mandatory to include a thoroughly planned and
programmed service space as an integral part of basic building design. A
cost effective way of providing this space must be found.
513.2.4
The building and its systems should be capable of unanticipated growth.
513.3
REQUIREMENTS AFFECTING THE CONFIGURATION OF
FUNCTIONAL UNITS
513.3.1
Definition
Functional units are defined as assemblies of rooms, closely linked by
interrelated activities. A functional unit is often identical to an
administrative department such as "surgery" or "radiology".
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