Hospital designs in India are moving from traditional and institutional to a more stylish, functional and patient friendly look. Although, flooring is an integral design aspect in hospitals, it is often considered a mundane-seeming topic and does not attract much attention and time while planning. However, right flooring is essential for efficient hospital functioning.
Hospitals are complicated buildings, as different floors have varied needs ranging from high-traffic corridors to supporting frequent movement of machinery to providing a welcoming homelike area for patients.
In addition, floors in hospitals are desired to have superior cleaning and maintenance qualities. Furthermore, they need to be able to cope with heavy traffic from equipment like wheelchairs, trolleys and X-ray machines and meet standards for smoke, fire and slip resistance – without relinquishing aesthetic qualities as a key design feature of the building.
In recent years, the variety of products available to meet these needs has grown exponentially. Style, durability, maintenance, sustainability, and choice of materials are all major areas of consideration when specifying, installing, and maintaining healthcare flooring.
Flooring is important
Right flooring at a healthcare facility is not only functional but looks beautiful and soothes the frayed nerves of patients as well. Thus balancing aesthetics and functionality is crucial while designing hospital floors. “Right flooring is an important aspect of planning any healthcare facility. Having right flooring is about combining health and safety requirements without losing sight of the aesthetics and the emotional needs of the patient. Proper flooring adds to the overall ambience soothing the patient’s state of mind,” says R Kurup, Chief Marketing Officer, H&R Johnson (India). “It is very important for a healthcare facility to strike a balance between aesthetics and functionality of the space. Hospitals/clinics need to have floors which are not only natural- looking but most importantly it needs to be slip and germ-resistant, soft, low on maintenance and high on durability,” he adds.
Planning for hospital floor should get much time and attention as it is almost a permanent component of the building, and redesigning and rebuilding would have economic repercussions apart from all the inconvenience for the staff as well as patients. Gaurav Saraf, Joint Managing Director, Square Foot says, “Flooring plays a critical role in healthcare facilities. As per JCI norms, in all critical areas and patient areas you need seamless flooring. In India, the government is not stringent on these norms. Flooring cannot be replaced everyday so hospitals should pay more attention to flooring.”
Flooring considerations
Earlier hospital designs were dull and only took care of the functionality aspect but today hospitals are improving the flooring designs through colour and aesthetic appeal.
“Historically, hospitals and healthcare facilities were only focussing on offering medical services. And so most healthcare facilities had a typical style of flooring which was the vinyl tile. Recent studies have revealed that the emotional component of patients affects the success of medical treatment. The outcomes improve when the healthcare environment is comfortable and home-like,” informs Kurup.
Adding to this Saraf says, “Earlier all hospitals used to be grey, black and mundane in terms of colour and design. Today, colour therapy is used in a big way and all hospitals use bright colours, borders, special designs for paediatric wards etc.”
Consumer calls
Nowadays, flooring systems are available in a range of attractive colours with optimal flooring solutions that retain a very attractive appearance throughout the life span of the healthcare facility. “Today, consumers prefer premium quality products which have high functional attributes. Flooring, with anti-skid, anti-stain and germ free attributes, are considered as a perfect melange of aesthetics, functionality and hygiene,” says Kurup.
New hospitals are also looking at novel materials and green flooring options which are LEED certified and eco-friendly. “Today people understand that hard flooring like stone, marble, tiles cannot be used in hospitals and you need hospital speciific flooring. We have more than 800 colour options of vinyl flooring and designs available for use in hospitals. Some hospitals are also looking at using eco friendly flooring or green flooring in the vinyl flooring or linoleum ranges,” says Saraf.
Ideal options for hospitals
Most suitable flooring solutions for hospitals have qualities like water-resistance, slip-resistance, durable, stain-proof, and fire resistance. Anti-skid material is critical for the safety of both patients and hospital staff. “The most preferred flooring options for hospitals are anti-skid tiles and germ-free tiles. The scratch-free tiles offer high degree of abrasion resistance while germ-free tiles offer protection from various disease-spreading bacteria. Scratch-free tiles also come with added USP like anti-skid, stain-proof and easy to maintain features. The germ-free tiles inhibit the growth of germs, bacteria, fungus and other microbes that come in contact with the tile,” affirms Kurup.
Stain-resistant solutions are important for flooring which is used in areas where the spilling of blood, body fluids, iodine-containing solutions and other similar materials is common. Water-resistant flooring solution, apart from other things, helps in cleaning.
“Most customers are looking for easy-to-clean, water-resistant flooring options for hospitals,” offers Alok Goel, CEO, NITCO. “Wooden finish tiles; polished, glazed and vitrified tiles; mosaico; naturoc and digital printing tiles are also in demand these days,” he adds.
However, wide consensus is being formed to use eco-friendly products in hospital floor design. “Generally, you use vinyl flooring in hospitals. All our products are green products and earn LEED points. For specific safe areas like ramps etc., we have specialised safety flooring which is non slip. All products for healthcare are designed keeping in mind functionality, safety and maintainance etc. Laminate is not an ideal solution for healthcare facilities except maybe in some areas like suite rooms, and recreational areas,” highlights Saraf.
Durable flooring solutions are designed to withstand high traffic in the room, which therefore eliminates the constant need of having to repair floors which prevents the disruption of patient care arising from repair work. “Ceramic tiles have grown to a sizeable chunk today. The key product range includes ceramic wall tiles, ceramic floor tiles, vitrified tiles and industrial tile. They cater to varied taste sand requirements of customers. Tiles are high on durability, easy to install and easy to maintain. These tiles are available in a wide variety of designs, textures and surface effects,” says Kurup.
Different considerations come into play while selecting flooring solution for hospitals. The need is to look for solutions that save cleaning time and maintenance on the floors as well as provide aesthetic appeal.
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