Overview of the SpaceMed Guide

Overview

Written by Cynthia Hayward, the SpaceMed Guide provides state-of-the-art planning methodologies, industry benchmarks, and rules-of-thumb to help healthcare architects, planners, and providers develop the functional program and space requirements before beginning the design process and applying the FGI Guidelines. With the step-by-step workbook and space planning templates in Microsoft® Excel, you can quickly determine the types, numbers, and sizes of spaces for any healthcare project based on input from the intended occupants.

Organization of the SpaceMed Guide

The 340-page workbook includes a Preface, What's New in the Fourth Edition, Introduction, and Using This Workbook chapters followed by fifteen facility component sections. In addition to the narrative, each section includes a detailed (room-by-room) space planning template. Additional quick space calculation templates are provided for selected functional components. All templates are formatted in Microsoft® Excel and both imperial and metric versions are provided. Most functional areas found in acute care hospitals, freestanding ambulatory care centers, and specialty facilities are addressed in one of the SpaceMed Guide's fifteen sections. Click here to see some examples of specialty facilities that can be planned with the SpaceMed Guide.

See Table of Contents

Facility Component Sections

Each of the facility component sections in the SpaceMed Guide workbook includes:

General Description
Current Trends
Key Planning Issues
Space Planning Approaches
Future Flexibility and Adaptability
Facility Layout Considerations
Potential Facility Planning Pitfalls

See Sample Workbook Pages

Space Planning Templates

The space planning templates are organized by functional category of space — such as patient intake area, patient treatment space, shared support space, and administrative space. Guidelines are also provided for developing preliminary space estimates in department gross square feet or meters based on the projected workload, patient treatment spaces, or other space drivers.

See Sample Space Templates

Unique Space Planning Approach

The SpaceMed Guide offers a unique approach — the space planning templates identify all rooms or areas as either workload dependant, variable, fixed, or optional.

Workload dependant spaces, such as surgical operating rooms and exam rooms, typically depend on the projected workload. For example, one operating room may be planned for every 900 annual surgical cases or one exam room provided for every 1,500 annual clinic visits.

Variable spaces are based on the total number of patient care or treatment spaces programmed, the number and type of staff working on the primary shift, and the specific equipment and vendor selected. For example, three waiting area seats may be programmed per exam room in a clinic or one handwashing station for every four patient recovery bays.

Fixed spaces do not vary in number or size regardless of the overall scope of activities of the department or functional component. For example, there should be a unit clerk workstation for each inpatient nursing unit and an environmental services room in the food services area.

Optional spaces depend on the scope of services, specific operational concepts, administrative policy, desired level of amenities, and availability of shared or centralized spaces elsewhere in the facility. Examples include conference rooms, staff break rooms, and public toilet facilities.

Common Spaces

The SpaceMed Guide uses common spaces that can be replicated across departments or facility components within the healthcare facility. This provides future flexibility as well as cost savings as rooms serving comparable functions are similarly sized and finished instead of tailored to the individual occupants — even though the actual equipment and furnishings may be changed or upgraded over time. Spaces common to many clinical services and support functions — including patient care, support, and administrative spaces — are summarized in an appendix for easy reference.

Aligns with the FGI Guidelines

The SpaceMed Guide aligns with the Facility Guidelines Institute's Guidelines for Design and Construction of Hospitals and Guidelines for Design and Construction of Outpatient Facilities — referred to as the FGI Guidelines. The Joint Commission, many U.S. federal agencies, and authorities in 43 states use the FGI Guidelines as a code or a reference standard when reviewing, approving, and financing projects.

The SpaceMed Guide complements the FGI Guidelines by helping healthcare architects, planners, and providers develop the functional program and space requirements before beginning the design process and applying the FGI Guidelines. The SpaceMed Guide uses the same terminology for departments and spaces and expedites the process of determining the types, numbers, and sizes of spaces for any healthcare project.

SpaceMed Celebrates 20-Year Anniversary

The SpaceMed Guide was first published in 2004, followed by the second edition in 2006 and the third edition in 2015. The fourth edition (2022) of the SpaceMed Guide has undergone a significant update. The workbook and space planning templates have been reorganized, and some facility components have been realigned to reflect changing technology and medical practice. Click here for a summary of what is new in the fourth edition.

Who Uses the SpaceMed Guide?

Healthcare architects, interior designers, facility planning consultants, hospital-based managers and planners, and various other professionals use the SpaceMed Guide. All top 10 U.S. healthcare architectural firms have purchased the SpaceMed Guide based on Building Design + Construction magazine's Top 170 Healthcare Architecture and AE Firms as featured in the 2022 Giants 400 Report. Private and government organizations in over 40 countries have also purchased the SpaceMed Guide to date.

See Purchase Details