PRINCIPLES OF CIRCULATION AND MOVEMENT CONFIGURATIONS IN HOSPITAL DESIGN

Abstract

Circulation paths can be defined as invisible threads linking internal and external spaces within a building relative to where a person is and the intended final destination. Various studies exist in the need to further understand the relationship between circulation and way-finding, particularly in hospital and healthcare buildings. In this study, a practical approach to hospital circulation design is presented to combine the principles of circulation as a design tool for layout configurations in the design of hospitals. This paper presents Circulation Elements as layers of flow that outline the movement paths within buildings. The study reviewed already established fundamental elements for circulation studies that are notable in architectural philosophies as major components for the way-finding process as it affects circulation in buildings. It further reviewed existing circulation systems to identify the potential patterns of circulation used in modern-day hospital buildings. These circulation principles were finally adopted in the conceptual design of a typical hospital building to justify its applicability. Analysis of the designed hospital circulation system is evaluated using VGA (visibility graph analysis) to identify the significance of carriage pathway sizes in improving visibility fields for indoor way-finding processes. The VGA analysis identified the ease of wayfinding and movement as dependent on the size of circulation spaces. This VGA method of analysis can be adopted by architects and designers for preliminary analysis of carriageways relative to circulation configuration during the design process to ensure improvement of circulation efficiency and way-finding.