By developing a single adaptable blueprint, healthcare owners can leverage prototyping to design once and build many times, customizing each facility to fit different sites and community needs. It works like this: using standard design grids, room types and prefabricated components, even for a facility as large and complex as a hospital, an owner and the surrounding community can realize a host of benefits.
The prototype approach replaces traditional, one-off designs with a flexible model that accelerates construction and gets care to patients faster — and it’s a growing trend.
Consistency is key
When San Antonio experienced rapid population growth, University Health knew they needed to expand medical services quickly. Their solution: one prototype hospital, designed to serve two distinct sites — delivering high-quality care to more people, sooner.
The owner wanted staff to be able to navigate either hospital with ease, and for maintenance to be streamlined across campuses. To achieve this goal, the prototype maximized consistency.
Approaches at both locations are the same. Inside, patient rooms are identical across sites, down to the light switches and power outlets. Equipment was single sourced so that maintenance, warranties and service contracts remained uniform.
To ease transition from design to construction, the mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) system infrastructure was also designed for future vertical and horizontal expansions, which allowed our contractor teams to move quickly at each location while still optimizing flexibility for the owner since expansions could occur differently at each site.
Flexibility within a framework
Speed and consistency are important benefits of prototypical hospital design. Flexibility is another. Our team didn’t need separate design scenarios for the University Hospital project, though the sites were in different jurisdictions and one was considered “high-rise” while the other building was “low-rise,” based on specific jurisdictional amendments. In San Antonio, thoughtful prototype allowed the base design of both facilities to remain the same until the Construction Documents phase, when site-specific nuances were incorporated.
For example, one campus used prefabricated MEP corridor racks, while the other used traditional trade-coordinated built-in-place systems. Delivered differently due to cost and construction preferences, the outcomes — and the equipment — are still the same.
Ready to evolve
Each site is designed for both vertical and horizontal expansions. The MEP systems are holistically designed for easy equipment additions to each system, including space for a future boiler and heat reclamation technology in the chillers to harness waste heat. This solution incorporates all necessary chilled water system components for ultimate buildout on day one.
In the event of single chiller failure, anticipated cooling and comfort heat won’t need to revert to a boiler. Air handlers are designed by floor and wing to minimize the number of patients impacted by a single unit failure. In addition, this design allows University Hospital to defer the costs of sheet metal and unit install to future expansions — a decision that provides flexibility for future program decisions.
The building design accommodates a future generator and utilizes medium-voltage switchgear sized to accommodate future substations if the owner decides to electrify the building.
Blurring project boundaries
Owners who are good candidates for prototype projects are knowledgeable about the construction process and can make clear decisions while allowing flexibility for individual site needs. This adaptability enriches the construction process, and ultimately better serves the patients and staff.
Further, as each site has its own contractor team, owners benefit from the perspectives of multiple builders and trade partners. During delivery of these two sites, University Hospital encouraged group meetings across projects to share solutions, review requests for information and inform problem solving. This collaborative process fosters checks and balances during construction, which also allows the oversight team to catch issues before they arise or impact both sites. Conversely, one team might suggest a solution that works for another site as well.
It was this spirit of collaboration that allowed the team to design almost one-million square feet of complex hospital space, with construction beginning within nine months of design, and on schedule to serve patients in early 2027.
Read more about trends in patient bed towers here.
