Abstract

Healthcare design has been considered as one of the most complex design types. In this study, healthcare design complexity is analysed by the following categories: (1) function; (2) medical technology; (3) scientific knowledge; (4) aesthetics; and (5) interest group complexity. The central questions here are: (1) What is the impact of specialized knowledge on the professional practice; and (2) What are the relationships between design complexity and specialized knowledge. To answer these questions, this study utilizes two approaches, including mail-out questionnaires survey and in-person and focus group interviews. This study found that healthcare design architects emphasize the technical component of specialized healthcare design knowledge. Thus they perceive that architectural research, as a tool to increase specialized healthcare design knowledge, is beneficial to solve the technical components including medical technology and functional problems. In the professional practice, however, architectural research is hardly conducted due mainly to the lack of money and time for it. Different perceptions regarding healthcare design complexity and architectural research among the firms exist, depending on the firm size. These results imply that the knowledge management strategy of large firms can be more efficient to the organizational growth than the small firms.

Keywords

• Healthcare design complexity;
• specialized knowledge

• 의료시설 디자인 복잡성;
• 전문지식;