Welcome back to our Architectural Blog Series. This month, we take a look at the new Acute Care for the Elderly (ACE) unit at Ottawa’s Queensway Carleton Hospital. Read more
Kingston’s newly opened Providence Care Hospital (PCH) provides physical medicine, rehabilitation, geriatrics, complex continuing care, palliative care, specialized mental health care, and forensics, for patients in southeastern Ontario. Read more
In the past we’ve discussed performance standard certifications: LEED and WELL are two of the most widely recognized, but there is another highly rigorous standard we have yet to explore, and that’s The Living Building Challenge (LBC). Read more
As we move towards a future where sustainability and rising energy prices play an increasingly important role in the design, development and construction of our built environment, the concept of Net Zero Energy Building (NZEB) is gaining momentum in the architectural industry. Read more
For facility visitors or patients, it is important that they be able to navigate within the facility quickly and with ease. What this comes down to is creating and incorporating highly organized and effective way-finding measures from the first steps of the design process. Read more
In recent years the WELL Building Standard has been gaining momentum in the design industry and focuses on creating built environments that can enhance users’ health and wellbeing. It is the first set of principles founded upon evidence-based medical and scientific research around building practice, design and development with a goal of improving human health.
The role of acoustics in healthcare design has been well documented, in particular, the detrimental effects of noise in healing environments. Excess noise can raise heart rate and blood pressure, increase pain after surgery, slow the healing process, and lengthen hospital stay. As architects and designers of healthcare facilities we can help mitigate the role of noise using specific acoustic principles and technology. Read more
