"Form must follow function - especially in hospital construction!"

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\"How can a building be developed so that it is optimally aligned with its processes?\", summarizes Christina Ladikos, Managing Director of BFT Planung GmbH, outlining the central guiding question that must be at the beginning of every project – especially when, as is currently the case in the consolidation of healthcare facilities triggered by hospital reform, construction often involves existing structures and also requires questioning established processes to later achieve an optimal result. \"If the focus is not set correctly in this question, you quickly end up making things worse. Unnecessary budget explosions and exhausting replanning are then just a matter of time. We definitely want to prevent this together with all stakeholders,\" emphasizes the planning expert. In addition to the interests of the operators of the respective facilities, who hold the ultimate budget and decision authority, the user perspective is always crucial from the start: of medical staff in hospitals, or of students and teachers in school buildings, or of scientific experts in a research lab. If this attitude is consistently taken to its conclusion, one automatically also arrives at an ecologically sustainable solution, Christina Ladikos is convinced: \"A building initially designed for a lifespan of 200 years with five reuse phases during this period must be viewed under different signs than purpose-built buildings of the past. It is then also necessary to keep an even more detailed eye on the Total Cost of Ownership over the entire life cycle, and not just the initial investment costs.\"

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Communication is everything

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The rapid medical progress is another important driver of this development: Because while hospitals logically must first define their comprehensive medical strategy, from which the operational organization and structural requirements are derived, the short renewal cycles in the context of various treatment innovations demand the greatest possible flexibility in the result – despite still long project durations. In addition to holistic expertise, which BFT combines at three locations in North Rhine-Westphalia, a proven communication strength is an important basis for success, as Christina Ladikos emphasizes: \"Our goal is always to develop the optimal solution together with the operators, users, operational organization planners, and all trades and to coordinate seamlessly among ourselves – for buildings that are meant to be long-lasting but flexible in use.\"

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