In residential and commercial building types the design brief is relatively easy to understand and cater to. Healthcare architecture, however, requires specialized knowledge on the part of the architect and the supporting engineering team. The lack of such trained professionals results in many of the hospitals in India today being ill conceived and costing their promoters much more in construction and in inefficient operation than they need to. Eventually it is the patient who bears the brunt of this incompetence through lack of quality in the medical care provided, physical and mental discomfort and increased cost of hospitalization. Specialized healthcare architecture is a field that is still in its infancy in India. Advice given by consultants in this field is based on the combination of the skills and knowledge of a varied team of professionals, which consists of doctors, architects, engineers and hospital management graduates. However, this specialized field is not only about satisfying the stringent functional demands that the hospital makes on its designer. The emphasis of healthcare architecture is also on improving the quality of the environment for patient and caregivers alike. It must meet the needs of people who use such facilities in times of uncertainty, stress, and dependency on doctors and nurses. It must recognize and support patients’ families and friends by providing pleasant spaces. At the same time the building should project an underlying reassurance that the patient is in the hands of competent medical staff and in a technically sound healthcare facility. In the future patients will be increasingly demanding of healthcare organizations. Those facilities that are designed to be most responsive to patients in terms of convenience, caring encounters, service orientation and the quality of care will do best in meeting these new demands. Architects are regarded as talented problem solvers. The problem here is to find a way to deliver a high quality of care and access in a setting that is also highly supportive of human relationships during times of great anxiety and fear.
