They're used in different ways at different stages of a project, or in different ways by different users within a project..

Bryden Wood designed Circle Reading Hospital and Circle Birmingham Hospital, and collaborates closely with NHS England.Our primary focus in healthcare projects is to adopt the principles of healthy architecture in order to improve the quality of the user experience for patients and staff.

Hospitals are places to heal and recover, and the design of the building is paramount in supporting this.. As part of our recent involvement in healthcare design, we analysed the performance of typical ward layouts in terms of daylight quality and opportunities for views out:.•​ 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..These approaches can significantly contribute to reducing the carbon footprint of buildings through more efficient designs and the use of sustainable materials.. 3.. Passivhaus as a sustainability benchmark:.

Pablo highlighted Passivhaus as a rigorous standard for energy efficiency in a building, reducing its ecological footprint.It represents a robust model for achieving extreme energy efficiency and comfort via airtight building envelopes, high-performance windows, and ventilation with heat recovery.. 4.

Importance of early integration of sustainability.Pablo stressed the necessity of embedding sustainability discussions early in the design process to ensure these principles are deeply rooted in the project.