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Medical Construction & Design | M AY/ J U N E 2017 | MCDM AG.COM
Healthcare facilities have
undergone a long, steady
transformation in appear-
ance in recent years. Going
from cold, expressionless
buildings to those intended
to be warm and inviting,
this growing trend in the
healthcare industry can be
credited to the principles of
Evidenced-Based Design and
the availability of building
components — including
doors and hardware — that
combine superior product
performance with sophisti-
cated aesthetics.
Under this design move-
ment, the trend in healthcare
construction has been to
create facilities that suggest
hospitality rather than hospi-
tal. According to the Center
for Health Design, such
designs are used to create
environments that are thera-
peutic, supportive of family
involvement, effi cient for staff
performance and restorative
for workers under stress.
The school of thought
is Evidence-Based Design
should result in demon-
strated improvements in a
healthcare organization's
clinical outcomes, economic
performance, productivity,
customer satisfaction and
cultural measures.
Safety and security
Evidence-Based Design seeks
to create a therapeutic envi-
ronment by eliminating visual
stressors and emphasizing
pleasant aesthetics right
down to the details, including
doors and hardware. This de-
sign principle does not over-
ride patient safety or lessen
the strict security require-
ments of a hospital. However,
it does encourage facilities
to seek out security and life-
safety solutions that blend in
with the rest of the décor.
Decorative doors and
hardware can contribute to
this desired setting. A stark
lock can stand out as a vi-
sual cue that a need exists for
heightened security within
the facility — a subconscious
and unsettling reminder that
danger lurks. A decorative
lever or stylish lock, on the
other hand, blends in with
the building design motif
the Door
A peek inside today's trends in
healthcare doors & hardware
BY MIKE TIERNEY
Opening