Design Considerations for Pedestrian Circulation Control in General Hospitals, Abuja

Abstract

Many hospitals have developed over a number of years in a piecemeal fashion. This has resulted in complex environments made up of long and confusing corridor systems constituting more challenges and frustratingusers of the building. The importance of circulation to building use over the years has not made much impact in the design of general hospitals in Nigeria. However, evidence suggests that improving access and people circulation in hospitals can improve staff performance, enhance patients’ rate of recovery, reduce the delay time of external service delivery and create a more welcoming environment for visitors. Consequently, the need to design hospital layouts that benefit from the most effective circulation system cannot be over-emphasized. Thus, there remains a need to find more effective connectivity solutions to the problems that continue to occur in complex hospitals.This research aims at at highlighting the important design consideration for circulation control in general hospitals in Abuja.The study adopts a qualitative design approach, with the aid of observation schedule and interviews that were used to solicit information at the hospitals. The data obtained was content analyzed and represented using table and charts. The research brought together the emergence of design and knowledge management which sensitizes designers to the varied contextual knowledge levels of connectivity in hospital design in Nigeria. Drawing on findings, the research has proffered prescriptive and evaluative connectivity frameworks to aid the design of effective connectivity systems in Nigerian Hospital.