Hospital building integrated design development, construction management and maintenance

Abstract

Hospital buildings are complex and have a significant social and economic importance. In addition, the rapid development of new medical technology and procedures requires new forms of hospital building project management and development. This study aimed at investigating and identifying new models for structuring and integrating product development activities in this kind of project, considering its inherent complexity. This paper discusses the development process of medium-sized hospital buildings, including design macro-stages, production management, and maintenance management, based on a descriptive case study undertaken in a firm specialized in hospital design. This has provided an integrated vision of the development process for this kind of product. As a result, the models of each product development macro-stage were devised as a generic reference for the integrated development of new hospital buildings. This study contributes for the discussion of the design process management in general, and particularly on the practice of developing hospital buildings.