Dubai, UAE, 4 October 2018: “Growth in investment provides investors, designers and the construction industry with the opportunity to transform and impact the healthcare sector,” said Ben Gonzalez, Vice President and Director, HKS Health, MENA Dubai, in his opening remarks at the Building Healthcare Innovation and Design Show, in Dubai. He welcomed Upali Nanda, Associate Principal and Director of Research, HKS, to speak on ‘Linking designs to outcomes and how health facilities can become health facilitators’.

Upali Nanda

Nanda spoke about a research study on how an audience positions itself in a room, while referring to design as art, which must go beyond just a good-looking interior. She said, “The spaces we design, are for the theatre of everyday life.” Project profit, she said, is directly linked to success metrics and today, designers, contractors and even building operators need to come up with smart solutions, while looking at a project from a holistic perspective.

Nanda said, new facilities must reduce the dependence on drugs, which brings a new perspective to the way we view health. “There will be a shift in the healthcare sector, where care will be provided at home and hospitals will be a place to heal,” Nanda said. And when this happens, she added, the way a facility is designed will play a crucial role in patient recovery.