Institutional architecture: A case study of health care design methods and practices.

Abstract

This research study in the field of design methods traces the planning and design experiences of two hospital architects. It attempts to capture the thoughts and actions of each player as he developed his strategy(ies) for design implementation. A case study narrative approach was employed to document the project architect's experience. Through a series of in-depth interviews, the informants were asked a set of questions regarding the nature of their design experience of an exemplary case. The scope of the investigation was limited to the preliminary planning and design decision-making stages of project development and to tertiary medical care facilities of institutional proportion. Emerging from the interviews were a number of substantive codes which, in the view of the informants, had a profound affect on their planning and design experiences. The most revealing aspect of the case study narrative approach was that which the informants chose to disclose, inform and emphasize as significant aspects or attributes of their experiences in health care architecture. The preponderance of the issues emerging was in the area of social group interactions among the design participants.