Giacomo Di Ruocco

Quality Evaluation Method for Pediatric Hospital Buildings to Support the Territory

Since ancient times the hospital has always been helping shape urban individuality, mainly affecting the territory development. In the best cases hospital has designed an intelligent system of synergies and integrations with other territorial and urban functions. The work focuses on the analysis in particular of pediatric hospital buildings. The objective of the research is to ensure higher quality and efficiency for these hospital buildings, in order to obstruct the ongoing obsolescence processes and guarantee an essential service to the territory. In the hospital design sector, the quality of the space is necessary not only to ensure more exceptional comfort for the users but has beneficial effects on the children healing process. Therefore the research proposes by using a multi-criteria methodology a method for assessing the quality of pediatric hospital structures at three different levels of investigation (Urban System, Building System, and Internal Space System). The originality of the work consists of recognizing the quality as a function of three specific criteria/objectives: Humanization, Sustainability and Flexibility. This new integrated multidisciplinary approach aims at representing a useful model to support systematically the appropriate design choices.

A Model Flexible Design for Pediatric Hospital

The main objective of this research is the identification of a pediatric hospital contemporary design model, developing, at the same time, a prefabricated construction technology able to meet today’s health from building flexibility characteristics. Therefore, starting from the analysis of the evolution of architecture and health care facilities, in history, and the main aggregation methodologies used, the basic parameters have been identified on which is based the design of the pediatric ward: flexibility, modularity, environmental quality and humanization. Based on these parameters was developed a contemporary children’s hospital model that, in addition to responding to the initial requirements, could lend itself to multiple aggregation solutions. The finalization of the architectural model has determined, in addition, the need to develop a suitable construction technology, able to adapt to the requirements of flexibility on which is based the entire study: from such reflections was, therefore, experienced a basic module which is based on the design principles of precast lightweight.