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Designing Entrances and Lobbies
WELCOMING YOUR CUSTOMERS
Entrances and Lobbies in VA Medical Facilities
Hospitals, Outpatient Clinics, Nursing Homes
Introduction
The entrance is the first introduction to VA. It forms an indelible
impression about the quality, competency, and the care that patients
and visitors can expect to receive. In evaluating how your facility
welcomes customers, put yourself in the role of an arriving patient. Then,
relate to the stress, intimidation, fear, confusion, and physical limitations
that a patient feels. Test the entrance and see if all of the elements support
the physical and psychological concerns of the person entering.
Arrival - Site and Approach
The property entrance should be unmistakable and well marked with
signage. The building entrance should be accented to highlight it as
the primary destination by using colorful flowering landscape materials
(in plots or pots), attractive paving, specimen quality trees and shrubs,
canopies, or water features. The path, or roadways to it should be
clearly delineated using landmark shrubbery and trees to signify roads,
intersections, and parking lots.
Building Entrance
The entrance is a busy place. It is the drop off and pick up point for
those arriving. Private vehicles, taxis, and buses all compete for a place
by the door. Accessibility, safety, and a good traffic flow are the primary
goals in this area. Another concern is visibility to see approaching rides
and buses. All weather conditions need to be considered. The finish
materials of both floor and walls must be safe, durable, forgiving, and
maintainable.
The entrance floor needs to have a receiver/wiper (recessed doormat) so
that debris from the outdoors is not spread to the interior of the building.
Lobby
The best lobby designs will come from observations. See how people enter,
use and move out of the area. It is optimal to house all of the key
customer functions such as greeting, information, and wheelchair management
together in a Receiving and Information Center. The Center will not
function effectively unless it is located up front and is visible,
accessible, and welcoming. Key medical functions such as registration
then can be separate in a clear uncluttered location.
Greeters have become a successful quality customer approach. The greeter
needs to have accommodations to hold their tools, such as literature,
facility maps, department direction sheets, and personal items such as a
candy dish, buttons, or flowers.
Wheelchairs are located at the entrance and are left there upon departure.
Provisions to manage the wheelchairs must be thought out and planned. This
requires more than just architecturally providing a space but a procedure
for storing and monitoring them.
Wayfinding
The wayfinding and signage system that begins at the entrance to the grounds
needs to continue through the interior of the building. The lobby is the
critical interior orientation point for wayfinding. Be sensitive to
physically and mentally impaired people for whom the facility is a large,
confusing and intimidating maze of corridors. Successful wayfinding should
integrate components such as interior finishes, signage, artwork, colors,
lighting, architectural elements, and even smells and sounds. Each of these
gives cues and reinforces the way.
Interior Theme
VA can strengthen its visual image in the lobby as it focuses on recruiting
patients in a new competitive health care market. Establish a theme for the
lobby area. This can come from the site location, local motifs and styles,
the architecture or a good healing design such as gardens and things
associated with nature. Avoid cold, strong, corporate or high tech themes.
Consider the culture of your VA patient population. Choose a style for
which a range of accessories and artwork is available.
Furniture
The lobby furniture needs to be upscale in style and material selections.
The pattern and arrangement of lobby seating should encourage the desired
behavior of the users. The arrangement needs to look interesting. Bus stop
like aisles will produce restless conduct. People need the option of sitting
alone, in pairs, or in a group. The arrangement should allow the user to
read, talk or observe. Provide spaces for all users, including spaces for
a wheelchair to join the group, wide seats for large people, and hard seats
with arms for the weak and elderly. Wood arms and changeable upholstery are
good choices. Benches are also a good choice as they allow casual lighting
and give a large seating space. Use of side and coffee tables adds
personality and achieves a hospitable appearance while dividing the spaces.
The top surface of the tables should be durable and made to look more
inviting with a plant, lamp, or reading materials. Lamps with warm lighting
will provide ambiance and an enhanced image.
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