Articles:

Professor John Dyson spent more than 25 years at GlaxoSmithKline, eventually ending his career as VP, Head of Capital Strategy and Design, where he focussed on developing a long-term strategic approach to asset management..

Once we clarify the structure of the briefing information, we identify key stakeholders.. We conduct extensive engagement with clinical and non-clinical staff, as well as patients and visitors.We examine the flows and resources of people through the building, in order to maximise efficiency at every opportunity.

We reduce avoidable travel by designing to adjacencies and linkages wherever they add value – while at the same time understanding the need to keep certain functions, or categories of user, very separate.We include and consider as many variables as we can to make sure that the hospital will function as well as it can.. We produce detailed functional and support diagrams to guide the process.When these diagrams are agreed with our client, we create spatial diagrams, detailing all required rooms, their shapes and the relations between them.

This allows us to engage more specialist stakeholders, and make sure their requirements for each of the rooms are met.. We describe this approach as designing the hospital from the inside out.But we never lose sight of the architectural response to the brief.

Creating a beautiful space is a value-driver in itself, with a proven link to clinical outcomes.

Nothing is in isolation..Passive design measures also form a key part of a sustainable design strategy.

We must consider elements such as building orientation, the optimisation of facades to balance seasonal heat loss and gain, enhancing daylight and using natural or mixed-mode ventilation.To truly achieve sustainability in design, we should use passive design measures as much as we can to address health and wellness related challenges, as we search for a balance between wellness and energy efficiency.

If we’re pumping air into our buildings to make sure the environment is clean, are we wasting energy?Focusing on sustainability in design with passive design measures can help us rely less on mechanical systems.