The Lighting of Compact Plan Hospitals

The use of the ‘compact’ or ‘race-track’ plan for hospital buildings in which patient rooms are situated on the outside perimeter of the building, and service and ancillary rooms in the core, separated by a corridor, implies the use of artificial lighting in the inner areas throughout the day. The design of the lighting must permit movement between the wards and the internal rooms without introducing impressions of gloominess or deprivation, or the shock of sudden return to daylight, according to the direction of movement in the daytime. At night time, the reverse situation obtains, and the staff must be immediately capable of a reasonable level of visual discrimination when entering a darkened ward from an illuminated service room.A study has been carried out at the Building Research Station, using a full scale mock-up of a ward unit built inside a laboratory, to determine the appropriate levels of illumination in the internal rooms and corridor in relation to the lighting in the ward during daytime, eve...