Designing hospital modernisation using mathematical graph methods

Abstract

Designing hospital modernisation projects is both a challenge and a necessity in view of the rapid development of medical technologies and treatment processes. In addition, ageing populations are driving an increasing demand for medical services. The quality of space has been proven to support treatment processes and the pace of patient recovery, as well as the comfort of staff and the organisational and economic efficiency of the hospital. It is therefore advisable to make very conscious investment decisions. A precise and objective assessment of the existing condition, including, above all, functional and spatial solutions, is very important in hospital modernisation processes. New technologies often necessitate changes to the existing functional layout, and sometimes the existing layouts are not without flaws. However, hospitals are highly complex facilities, where change management requires decision-making support and adequate tools.Research has demonstrated the applicability of mathematical graph theory to describe complex functions and the interrelationships between them, taking into account the lighting of selected rooms.Treating the functional layout of a building as a discrete structure with connections, i.e. as a simple graph, is a natural (though often unconscious) practice in the work of an architect. However, thinking of such a structure of connections as a dual graph to a certain flat graph provides additional opportunities for a deeper understanding of the ambiguous relationship between the functional layout of a building and its floor plan. This way of visualising data on the desired adjacencies of rooms, which in hospitals result from the necessary safety conditions and optimisation of medical processes through efficient space, shows enormous potential for supporting design decisions.The adopted method combines architecture and mathematics in a visual way, using graphs and matrices to illustrate the existing relationships between rooms.

Keywords: Hospital Design, Graph Method, Modernisation

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1007964