Improving the client briefing for UAE public healthcare projects: Space programming guidelines

Space programming is one of the most important elements of client briefing on building projects. It aims to determine the internal space required for the facility in order for it to function properly. For public healthcare projects in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), there is a need to develop space programming guidelines that will assist in developing more accurate client briefing during the appraisal stage. This article reports on a research project aimed at establishing space programming utilization factors that assimilate the UAE healthcare project environment and reflect the outputs of all design forces during its development. Nine existing and functioning hospitals from different UAE cities were selected as case studies to establish these utilization factors. It was found that the calculated grossing factors for all hospital departments showed a positive variation when compared with guidelines for hospital space programming published in Western countries. It is recommended that the adoption of the extracted figures in the space programming process during the appraisal stage of the UAE healthcare projects will lead to a more accurate facility scope/function plan. Subsequently, more accurate and realistic cost estimating can be achieved.