2020 forced rapid changes in technology, social engagement, networks of care and working practices. We caught up with Benedict Zucchi, chair of architecture, to find out how design for specialist paediatric and complex care requires agility, creativity and practicality.
Progressive Paediatrics
Dublin Children’s Hospital
Healthcare design is becoming a niche profession as we continue to respond to the specific needs of patients. What do you see as the biggest changes in hospital design, especially given the events of the last year?
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In today’s healthcare sector there are two counter-tendencies at work: one of greater specialisation, with dedicated hospitals devoted, for example, to emergency care, cancer or children, and the other to a more flexible provision of services, either through adaptable estates or adopting a hub and spoke model with greater emphasis on dispersed smaller-scale community facilities. This last trend is being accelerated by the pandemic which has proven the potential of telemedicine and thus the viability of a more decentralised approach to patient care. Benedict Zucchi
We have helped a number of Trusts to develop estate masterplans with the express aim of incorporating buildings that can be adapted to different uses or leased to other organisations as an income stream. Hand in hand with this, urban hospital sites are consciously shedding their image as healthcare silos to achieve a better mix of uses, including spaces for learning, research, retail, senior living and community activities.
