June 2006
Service Bay: A structural bay specifically designed to provide for mechanical and electrical
rooms and/or various kinds of vertical shafts, located at the perimeter of a service module. May
be enclosed by shear walls or other lateral bracing systems.
Service Module: A planning module containing, and served by, an independent horizontal dis-
tribution network; typically including its own air handling unit.
Service Strip: A plan zone containing internal service bays.
Service Zone: The horizontal layer or building volume between the bottom of a finished ceiling
and the top of the finished floor immediately above; and the adjoining service bay. See Intersti-
tial Space.
Simple Assembly: A design configuration in which all structure is framed in the same direction
and all service bays are external.
Space Module: A subdivision of a service module in a patient bedroom area which may be in-
ternally organized in various ways to accommodate a range of functions, and which may be in-
corporated within a variety of design configurations.
Subsystem:
● A system considered as a component of a larger or more general system.
● Any component, or group of components, which has internally the characteristics of a sys-
tem (e.g. the distribution components of a mechanical system).
Support Area: All hospital areas outside the bed-care area.
System: A set whose elements (termed components) are organized toward a common objec-
tive, and are characterized by interdependence in their individual contributions to that objective.
Systems Analysis: Examination of the effects of the interactions between the components of a
system on the individual performance of those elements and on the total performance of the
system.
Systems Approach: A strategy of problem definition and solution which emphasizes the inter-
action between problem elements and between the immediate problem and its larger context,
and which specifically avoids traditional methods of independent or ad hoc treatment of the
various elements.
Systems Integration:
● The combination of a groups of relatively independent parts into a coordinated whole to
improve performance through controlled interaction.
● The joint use of a component by two or more systems.
Unit:
● A structurally independent assembly performing a specific function or range of functions.
● A functionally related set of people, equipment, spaces, missions, and activities considered
collectively for planning and administrative purposes. See Functional Unit.
● A module.
User Needs: Those conditions the users of a building consider necessary or desirable as envi-
ronment or support for their activities, without particular reference to how such conditions are to
be provided.
User Requirements:
● User needs.
● Performance requirements established directly by a user.
SUPPLEMENT TO RESEARCH STUDY REPORT
VA HOSPITAL BUILDING SYSTEM
SECTION 1-8
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