Exploring the relationship between outdoor and indoor enviroments in the hospital design process

This paper discusses the relationship between the city, the hospital and its indoor and outdoor environments, and aspects that need to be taken into account when planning a hospital complex within a city to create a continuum across them. In particular, the paper deals with issues related to urban and social integration, and the influence that the functional organization of the physical spaces and the typology of the hospital has on the qualities of the outdoor spaces around the hospital itself. The paper argues that the design process does not consider the outdoor spaces as an integral part of the hospital in a proper way, but only as a residual spaces to support medical activities. Against this backdrop, the paper contends that the outdoor spaces need to be integrated as part of the design process through a multidimensional design approach that involves the user groups. In the newly-created ‘outdoor related spaces’, new categories of activities emerge for the community and the user groups. Overall, the paper offers design considerations that help to create the right balance between the city and the hospital's outdoor and indoor environments.