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Towards a building typology and terminology for Irish hospitals

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Irish Journal of Medical Science (1971 -) Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

The physical form of the hospital environment shapes the care setting and influences the relationship of the hospital to the community. Due to ongoing demographic change, evolving public health needs, and advancing medical practice, typical hospitals are frequently redeveloped, retrofitted, or expanded. It is argued that multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder approaches are required to ensure that hospital design matches these increasingly complex needs. To facilitate such a conversation across different disciplines, experts, and community stakeholders, it is helpful to establish a hospital typology and associated terminology as part of any collaborative process.

Aims

Examine the literature around hospital design, and review the layout and overall form of a range of typical Irish acute public hospitals, to outline an associated building typology, and to establish the terminology associated with the planning and design of these hospitals in Ireland.

Methods

Searches in ‘Academic Search Complete’, ‘Compendex’, ‘Google’, ‘Google Scholar’, ‘JSTOR’, ‘PADDI’, ‘Science Direct’, ‘Scopus’, ‘Web of Science’, and Trinity College Dublin Library. The search terms included: ‘hospital design history’; ‘hospital typology’; ‘hospital design terminology’; and ‘hospital design Ireland’.

Results

Typical hospitals are composed of different layouts due to development over time; however, various discrete building typologies can still be determined within many hospitals. This paper presents a typology illustrating distinct layout, circulation, and physical form characteristics, along with a hospital planning and design terminology of key terms and definitions.

Conclusion

This typology and terminology define the main components of Irish hospital building design to create a shared understanding around design, and support stakeholder engagement, as part of any collaborative design process.

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Notes

  1. Acute care hospitals are also referred to as acute hospitals or general hospitals.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Meath Foundation for funding a research project looking at the design of dementia-friendly hospitals. This paper has emerged as a supporting document within this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. TrinityHaus Research Centre, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    T. Grey

  2. The Adelaide and Meath Hospital, Dublin, Incorporating the National Children’s Hospital, Dublin, Ireland

    S. Kennelly & D. O’Neill

  3. Health Services Executive, Dublin, Ireland

    P. de Freine

  4. O’Connell Mahon Architects, Dublin, Ireland

    S. Mahon & V. Mannion

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  1. T. Grey
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  2. S. Kennelly
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  3. P. de Freine
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  4. S. Mahon
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  6. D. O’Neill
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Correspondence to T. Grey.

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Funding

This study was funded by the Meath Foundation (no grant number applicable).

Not applicable.

T. Grey declares that he has no conflict of interest. S. Kennelly declares that he has no conflict of interest. P. de Freine declares that he has no conflict of interest. S. Mahon declares that he has no conflict of interest. V. Mannion declares that she has no conflict of interest. D. O’Neill declares that he has no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Grey, T., Kennelly, S., de Freine, P. et al. Towards a building typology and terminology for Irish hospitals. Ir J Med Sci 186, 1–16 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-016-1537-0

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