EBD Goal: The design of the new Nanaimo Regional General Hospital (NRGH) Emergency Department would be guided by these four values: timely, respectful, quality care, and
a place where people would want to come to work.
Challenge: As the design evolved and the functional adjacencies were being addressed, the client asked the design team to take the ED project beyond simply functional and efficient. Instead, could the environment be a place where people would want to come to work? The focus then became creating an environment that provided natural light and adequate staff work, personal and lounge/respite areas, with views to nature wherever possible. The design team responded by imbedding five courtyards. The challenge then became demonstrating demonstrate to the client/owner that there was not a premium in the net-to-gross, additional floor area, excessive travel distances, or additional capital costs as a result of the new solution. The team provided a convincing argument about cost/benefits of this solution and produced a LEED Gold building, on budget!
Solution: The team confirmed that NRGH would use Functional Program parameters, and room and component areas similar to other recently built EDs, and that the design would achieve equal or more efficient gross up factors than comparison EDs. The new design provided daylight and views to staff work and patient care areas. This was done in response to the clinician-generated body of evidence of the benefits of daylight in healthcare facilities. Projections were that a conservative 1.5% overall productivity gain would be required to achieve a three-year payback for the courtyards and related capital costs. This project has started construction and tendered under budget!