Creating the Brief
By talking to you about all the different policies that are required and the way in which they should be written we can help you provide the best possible brief for your design team. We can advise you of the type of information that is needed to build the picture of your health facility.
We can tell you how to get the necessary details from your staff and other users and can guide you through the complexities of policy making. To this end we have developed a tool which helps to capture all the details of facilities requirements and enables the compilation of room data sheets.
Don’t forget – a good brief can save untold difficulties later on. Time spent at the start in getting this information right can prevent unnecessary rising costs at a later stage.
- The brief is your most important document
- The Design Team needs full details in order to design your health facility.
- The information comes from you.
- You are initially responsible for collecting and collating data, drawings and specifications.
- This is the point at which basic requirements are decided.
- The brief describes the facilities and helps the Design Team carry out a preliminary design.
A brief consists of:
- The Philosophy of Care – This describes your “vision” – the aims and objectives, the desires and wishes that will create the standards for medical care and for the environment of the hospital. This allows the architect to understand just what it is that the client needs to develop the “ultimate” building.
- Whole Hospital Planning Policies – major issues that determine the size and form of the building.
- Departmental Policies – a policy for each department which describes the desired function and layout of the department and the relationship it has with other departments.
- Functional Content – a list of departments within the hospital based on the anticipated workload and occupancy rate as well as the special requirements.
- How many beds?
- What specialities?
- What diagnostic/ treatment modalities?
- Departmental Space Allowances – areas for spaces which are based on workload and procedural requirements for each special area
- Schedules of Accommodation (SOA)
- Maximum utilisation of scheduled spaces and equipment.
We can support you and advise you on the writing of a clear, comprehensive brief for the use of the Design Team.
