Design new ward layouts which can be retrofitted across the range of NHS hospital ward types to help deliver same-sex accommodation. Design for Patient Dignity - Brief 5/7
Bringing new, pre-manufactured washrooms to the hospital which are quick, easy and cost-effective to install helps improve ward layout with minimum disruption. In particular, they mean that patients going to the bathroom won’t have to pass through areas accommodating members of the opposite sex.
Read a transcript of this film
Designers: Avanti Architects
Industry supplier: Panaloc Worldwide Manufacturing
How it works
The Washroom Pod turns a bathroom into a standardised product which could be installed in a hospital in just two or three days. It can be attached to the outside of the building, stacked one on top of the other if need be to reach upper floors, and connected to existing drainage and power. It can also be installed internally, with a macerator to deal with drainage.
It’s small and compact, yet accessible by all patients including those using a wheelchair. The floor has been designed with a pumped waste system, so the unit can sit on top of an existing hospital floor and still be able to deal with shower waste. The door is a high performance sliding door that allows for different patterns of use — for example, a nurse can partially open it to assess if a patient needs assistance.
Ventilation includes a heat recovery unit and the interior uses low energy LED light fittings. Interior finishes include the use of a thermoformed acrylic resin with flush joints and rounded corners for easy cleaning and better infection control. Outer walls are made of two layers of oriented strand board with insulation between them.
The issue in context
Driven by advances in clinical practice and patient expectations, the layouts of hospital wards have evolved to such an extent that new hospitals bear little resemblance to those built 20 or 30 years ago. Economic and environmental reality suggests that retrofitting older hospitals to help provide same-sex accommodation offers a more immediate and flexible means of improving patient dignity. But providing additional sanitary facilities for existing wards and older buildings can involve a lengthy procurement process and complex, disruptive installation.
The designers’ insights
‘We knew the most difficult element of providing same-sex accommodation was introducing a new facility into an old building,’ says Joanna Marriott, Associate at Avanti Architects. ‘We proposed designing a bathroom that can be introduced into the space in the simplest way possible, avoiding complicated procurement or employing a major building contractor.’
The team’s solution takes nearly 50 different elements of the washroom design and installation process — equipment, people and utilities — and brings them together into one easily installed pod. ‘But the genuine benefit to the patient is that they don’t have to go through the distressing experience of walking through other wards to get to the bathroom.’