In This Issue
Quick Links

Subscribe

News 

More About Us 

Our Partners 

 

    

See our Community Health Portfolio

 
Connect With Us On
Linked
View our profile on LinkedIn
THE ARCHITECT'S ANGLE
June 2013
Greetings!

This month we are focusing on Design.  Our feature article Design Matters and our companion article "Seeing the Light", stress the importance of design in a health care setting.  Please let us know what you think. We welcome your feedback.

Design Matters 

    

In today's fast-tracked, tight-budget construction arena design professionals and their clients can sometimes feel that there is no time to think. That there is no time to take a step  back, gain a renewed perspective and remember the primary goals that launched a given project in the first place. 

 

Quite often, a project's success can be threatened    when it's "soul" is value engineered away along with bricks and mortar cost savings.  A successful building project can be defined as delivering a clients' program within a defined budget while conveying the project's purpose in a three dimensional environment that benefits its occupants. This three dimensional magic is achieved through the sometimes mysterious but always rewarding process known as Design.

 

Design matters. It is usually the answer to most questions that arise on a building project. A tight budget might be overcome by using simple, readily available materials in new and innovative ways. A tight time frame might be overcome by a design with a modular rhythm that allows for prefabrication of key building components.  Getting "too many" program pieces to fit into a tight plan footprint might be solved through the design of modular furniture systems that when used interchangeably, allow a single space to serve multiple functions.

 

Seeing The Light
  

The health benefits of natural and "simulated" daylight have been much discussed and debated. However, it is generally agreed upon by both laymen and experts alike that daylight can improve a person's mood and outlook which, in health care facilities, can contribute to better patient outcomes. Numerous studies also indicate that the presence of  daylight can lead to lower rates of employee turnover and absences.

 

It is much easier to plan a day-lighting strategy for a new building when decisions which optimize daylight such as building orientation and the type and location of fa�ade fenestration and shading elements can be made up front.

 

There is always a push-pull between the positive benefits of more daylight and the negative impacts of increased glare and heat gain. Passive fa�ade elements such as light shelves/eyebrows allow light to bounce-off them and be reflected towards the ceiling of space where the light, now diffused, is indirectly and evenly diffused across a room without glare.

 

 Continue Reading

 
We hope you enjoy this months issue. We want to continue to offer content that interests you, our readers. Please drop us a line and let us know what topics you might want to learn more about. As always, we love hearing from you.
  
Sincerely,
  

John Baumgarten
John W. Baumgarten Architect, P.C.
We can
help

We can help you save energy dollars through our market partner relationships with regional utility companies. There are energy rebates and incentives available for:

1. Replacing obsolete mechanical equipment and systems.

2. Upgrading facility lighting.

3. Improving the energy efficiency of your building's exterior envelope.
Call us for a complimentary consultation at (516) 939-2333 or email us at [email protected].