The role of waiting area typology in limiting the spread of COVID-19: Outpatient clinics of Erbil hospitals as a case study

Abstract

In the post-healthcare context, protecting patients against pandemic diseases like COVID-19 has become designers' responsibility; the amount and effectiveness of change are unknown, particularly in terms of future design. This study explores the potential significance of waiting area typology within outpatient clinics in generating a healthy and therapeutic environment for patients and users in terms of social distancing, as well as whether there is a relationship between outpatient and the provision of social distancing. This study employed a quantitative approach based on space syntax theory, through four different syntactic maps (Isovist, Axial, Convex and Visibility Graph Analysis), to depict hospitals in Erbil city by adopting five outpatient layout typologies such as centralized and decentralized (linear, lobby, sectoral and mixed), through measuring wayfinding, accessibility, privacy, density and circulation as outpatient layout typology factors. Results identified that there is a clear effect of outpatient layout typology factors on providing social distancing especially in waiting areas, the decentralized outpatient layout represented by both sectoral and linear typologies is the most useful typology based on social distancing compared to others. Given the influential role of outpatient layout in providing a healthy and safe healing atmosphere with more social distancing for patients, research findings provide a useful resource for healthcare designers, particularly for waiting areas within outpatient clinics.