Bubble or block drawings, starts in pre-design.
Design
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Design
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What is the Design Phase?
The Design phase includes schematic design (SD), design development (DD), and the creation of construction documents (CDs). The phases range from high-level concepts in schematic design through refinement of details during design development, and providing all information required for bidding and building in construction documents.
Depending on how the project is implemented, these phases can overlap. For example, if your project is design-build, certain aspects of the building (such as building infrastructure) may be finalized before others (such as interior details).
During the design phase, the design intent should illustrate the relationships between project components (adjacencies, forms, size, and overall appearance). Floor plans, sections, ceiling plans, power/communication plans, finish plans, elevations, construction details and written specifications are refined for the project. Coordination with mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, and other building systems are completed during this phase.
Some question you should ask during this phase are:
- What project components require outside expertise such as lighting design, landscape design, wayfinding, or acoustical design?
- How can the site topography be maximized to capture the best views, building access, and landscape features?
Many design decisions of varying level of detail need to be made at this stage. Activities occurring during design that are also led by the healthcare organization include: selecting a construction manager/general contractor for estimating, if not already engaged during predesign, determining specialty consultants needed for project, initiating the permit process, and developing a purchase plan for items not included in the design and construction scope of work (often furniture and equipment).
Design Activities
Activities developed during this phase that are led by the design team include: refining the space function/flow analysis, confirming the conceptual diagramming developed during pre-design, and architectural design process (schematic design, design development, furniture fixtures, equipment, technology planning, and construction documents).
Evidence-Based Design
The evidence to support design concepts gathered during the pre-design phase can be supplemented with additional detailed evidence to answer specific issues or questions that come up during design. Review and interpret any additional evidence for its quality and applicability to your project.
As design details are developed, you can create preliminary hypotheses linking the design innovations with potential outcomes—for example, the use of a defined entrance and clear signage will improve access and navigation for patients. Define outcome metrics for the set interests prioritized by your organization and collect baseline data in the existing facility (if relevant).
The EBD steps that occur in this phase include: Step Four: create and innovate EBD concepts; Step Five: develop a hypothesis; and Step Six: collect baseline performance measures. See the Evidence-Based Design Tab for detail about the EBD activities during this phase.
Design Activities
A process of planning, organizing and managing critical tasks to be completed for the safe move and full functionality on the first day.
Expertise for specific functions, such as Lean processes, sustainability, wayfinding, etc. Select consultants based on unique needs of the clinic.
Preliminary building plans, elevations, sections, perspective sketches, statistical summary of building characteristics, and outline specifications.
A clear and well-coordinated description of every design aspect of the building including actual space dimensions, mechanical, plumbing, electrical, fire protection systems, and preliminary specifications.
Regulatory, governmental, or third-party approvals. Understand requirements for obtaining certificate of occupancy or use permit.
Local requirements established for use, size (footprint and height), parking etc. Get approvals from local zoning authorities.
Moveable/attachable items, furniture, medical, office equipment, computers, telephone, security systems. Many items are not coordinated by the design team, but by the owner.
Purchase of items not included in GC (General Contractor) contract - often surrounding FFE.
Final and complete drawings and specifications including all work by the builder and by others, actual construction cost estimates based on sub-contractor bids.
Workflows not fully evaluated during pre-design should be finalized. As design progresses, process improvement should include development of training for staff to prepare them to work with the new processes and environment.
"Value Engineering" (or more broadly, "value enhanced design") is a widely accepted approach to identifying areas for cost savings in the building design by considering less expensive alternatives. A related activity is "design alternatives", a process of considering design options. This approach enables you to build the facility within the constraints of your budget, but allows for future growth without compromising the project's design.
Typically there are three major types of entities that will review the project and provide approvals: planning and zoning, building permit and life safety, and health. It is important to understand early on the types of approvals that might be needed for the project and the time involved in obtaining these approvals.
The process of selecting the builder through a competitive bidding process that may be required based on the source of funds. Depending on the process selected, contracts can be awarded to either a general contractor, construction management, design/build firm, or a turnkey developer.