Supporting future-proof healthcare design by narrowing the design space of solutions using building information modelling

BIM has been characterized by the UK Government’s chief construction adviser as unstoppable regarding its rise in construction and he further positioned BIM as mandatory for public projects in the UK by 2016. Moreover, large scale public projects such as healthcare facilities must be seen as a process, being able to meet the constantly changing demands imposed on healthcare infrastructure. Facilities should be designed as change-ready rather than to meet fixed requirements, therefore, the designer should accommodate as large section of design space potential solutions instead of mistakenly narrowing the response of the project to only one solution. Scenario based design was employed as research and design method for the proposed software modules which would extend the Activity Database (ADB). Two modules are proposed that will enable designers to improve their spatial design decisions for both new and refurbishment projects through partially automated knowledge extraction. Additionally, the integration of flexibility and standardisation concepts has been addressed. The proposed design approach is intended to provide rich knowledge representation at the early stages of the design process in less time and effort