Digital Tools as the Backbone of Reconstruction:.
• Inboard design: rooms facing the corridor with toilets in the facade.• Outboard design: rooms facing outdoors with toilets adjacent to the corridor.
• Nested design: rooms facing outdoors and connected to corridor.Toilets nested..The first option represents a trend in hospital design in which patient rooms are open and easily accessible from corridors, in order to improve staff-patient visibility and increase operational efficiency.
Unfortunately, this in turn means that the toilets are located on the façade, blocking daylight and views out, and thereby interfering with design for wellness principles..The second option, traditionally adopted in many hospital wards, locates the toilets adjacent to the corridors and places the patient area closer to the façade.
Although this partially supports design for wellness principles with patients benefitting from the connection to the outdoors, the layout is detrimental to the staff-patient connection and operational efficiency..
The third option, preferred by Bryden Wood, arranges the toilets in a nested position between wards.These are the main benefits of adopting a Passivhaus standard:.
A well-recognised quality mark: Passivhaus is a well-recognised, international, sustainable design standard which is seen by professionals and non-professionals alike as guaranteeing a level of environmental excellence that goes well beyond national standards..Performance gap reduced to minimum: Its all-encompassing energy assessment methodology and bespoke design software (Passive House Planning Package) offers a different approach to the compliance-focused UK energy modelling, which results in performance gap being largely avoided.. Ultra-low energy/carbon and lower operational costs: Passivhaus designs achieve low-energy consumption.
Rapid grid decarbonisation and the use of high efficiency heat pumps results in extremely low carbon emissions and gives clients the option of going net zero in operation through the use of additional PV or green electricity tariffs.When coupled with building mounted renewables, it can deliver low to non-existent energy bills to occupants, with some designs capable of being cost negative over the course of the year..
(Editor: Budget Backpacks)