Administration
Administrative areas within a hospital provide an essential service platform for
the efficient running of all medical procedures. It is no exaggeration to say that
without effective administration the through put of a hospital and hence its
operational capability would be severely jeopardised.
It is also true that the majority of administrative space is generally occupied by
highly skilled staff which always carries a premium in relation to worker
satisfaction. Nothing is more important for contributing to overall staff satisfaction
than the efficiency of the working environment itself.
The technical requirements and visual aspects of office lighting are well covered
in documents like CIBSE's Office Lighting Guide (LG7). LG7 is also harmonised
with the statutory task illumination requirements specified in BS EN 12464-1(2002)
lighting of workplaces.
It is important to realise that lighting can not only be optimised for task activities, it
can also affect how people feel. This in turn has a direct bearing on the well
being and productivity of personnel. Offices generally fall into one of two
categories, the smaller cellular office or the larger open plan type, each type
requires slightly different design considerations. In general terms certain aspects
of office lighting if paid enough attention at design stage will provide guaranteed
results for the trust and operational benefits to the office workers.
In large open plan areas the walls are generally too far away to make much of a
contribution to the visual scene. Therefore getting light onto the ceiling is far more
important as large areas of ceiling will dominate the peripheral vision. The best
way of ensuring a bright ceiling is by the use of direct / indirect luminaire systems.
However, lighting the ceiling in this way can provide occupiers with brightness
issues concerning their VDT's. It is therefore vitally important that the finished
design provides a relatively uniform pattern of brightness and that the ratio
between maximum and average values of ceiling luminance is kept below 3:1. In
addition there should be no sudden change in the values of luminance on any of
the major reflecting surfaces i.e. they should change gradually. This form of
lighting is often referred to as "Balanced Lighting".
In cellular offices the walls become the mail focus of peripheral vision and these
should be illuminated preferably by dedicated luminaires. One important
consideration within small offices are the windows; these should be provided
with blinds for effective solar control by day and to aid the lit effect at night.
