Changing hospital architecture - Sunand Prasad

What can good design offer the hospital, a functionally distinct building type showing considerable consistency of component parts and key issues around the world? Few well-known architects have been involved in the design of hospitals and even fewer big architectural awards have been won. And yet in almost no other building type are the consequences of getting the design wrong quite so serious. Richly illustrated in full colour, "Changing Hospital Architecture" shows what can be achieved by reflecting on the UK's current huge hospital building programme in the light of historical and international experience. It is aimed at architects and other construction professionals in the health sector as well as health policy makers, and points to potential exemplars, presents key issues and occasionally signals caution.An international survey of case studies is drawn from countries with developed industrial economies and healthcare practices of direct relevance to the UK. The introduction is followed by three chapters that set the scene: a post-War history of the British hospital; an examination of the crucial and undervalued early inception stages of a hospital; and, a revealing analysis of the changing context of the financing and construction of hospitals. Four chapters present evidence from around the world, spotlighting the UK, Europe, the USA and Australia. Finally, the book closes with a speculation on the architectural form of the future hospital.