Building healthcare: choose the furnishings and finishes for the waiting rooms

What are the finishes and furnishings that we can use in designing the paths and reception and waiting areas for healthcare facilities? And, above all, what features should they have? We see it.

Finishes
Horizontal and vertical partitions, such as flooring and wallcoverings, have to meet two fundamental characteristics in hospital structures: hygiene and durability.
In the lobby, the reception area of ​​the building, floors should be chosen so as to offer durability and mechanical abrasion resistance as well as easy maintenance. In these areas we can advantageously use natural or artificial stone materials, while also paying attention to the acoustic comfort of the environment which could be complicated by this type of flooring.
In the spaces dedicated to pathways and connectivity, wall and floor coverings must withstand wear, given the intense traffic of people on the go. In addition to mechanical abrasion resistance and easy maintenance, in these areas, the finishes must have characteristics of non-absorption and lack of discontinuities. The wall-to-floor connection is rounded to facilitate cleaning. The materials used will have to withstand disinfectant cleaning products.
Continuous flooring is finished in self-leveling resin, rubber, linoleum, vinyl.
Ceilings are also an element to be taken into consideration when designing: the look of patients carried lying on the beds or in a stretcher or even in a wheelchair is mostly upside down, so the suspended ceiling has an important role in defining the architectural space of the Hospital facilities.

Furnishings
With regard to furnishings, in the areas of reception and basic rest are sessions, which must be comfortable. Any tables and all shelves should be large enough.
Pay attention also to the bench height, which in the areas of reception and acceptance in particular will not have to be excessively high. It is also good to eliminate all those elements that can be a hindrance to communication, such as windows, intercom systems, as well as those materials that create feelings of detachment and coldness.
Along the paths and in the hospitals, the installation of a handrail is very useful in order to facilitate walking.
In the arrangement of furnishings in general, and in particular along the steps, minimum space for handling must also be taken into account. Indicatively, the minimum corridor width should be 230 cm wide, allowing the passage of two beds as well as a bed and people; For the direction reversal of the stretcher should be 300 cm.
Another important element to remember: to protect the walls from possible collisions with lifts, trolleys, beds, it is necessary to provide rubber bumpers, PVC, or aluminum profiles to be placed on the critical height wall. Wall plinths should also be designed to withstand both floor cleaning machinery and cleaning products. In addition, corner edges are required to protect the edges.