Hospital architecture determines the efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and future viability of a hospital at an early stage. In the competition for the best hospital architecture, organizers, planners, and logistics managers lay the foundations for material, personnel, and information flows.
Integrating logistics expertise at this stage avoids subsequent redesigns, reduces operating costs, and strengthens sustainable, patient-oriented hospital planning.
A new hospital building must combine medical, technical, and operational organizational goals. At the same time, modern hospitals should remain flexible, use space efficiently, and operate economically. Logistics shapes almost all processes in a hospital. It controls the flow of materials, people, and information and influences the efficiency of operations.
If logistical requirements are defined during the competition phase and integrated into the planning, the designs promote well-thought-out building structures. These structures reduce the need for later adjustments and ensure long-term sustainable use.
Architectural competitions are evolving into communicative processes. They involve organizers, ministries, project sponsors, decision-making bodies, and experts in hospital logistics at an early stage. The Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML supports these players in integrating logistical criteria into competition procedures.
In the architectural competition for a hospital, our team does not evaluate designs based on their appearance or construction. It examines whether the distribution of space, route concepts, and planned logistics concepts support the medical and business objectives of a new construction or renovation project. The evaluation follows a top-down approach with benchmarks and logistical criteria. It considers the transport links to the site, the main axes of internal access, and the functionality of the areas and transport technologies. An evaluation matrix summarizes the criteria.
Based on this, our experts prepare reports that highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the logistics in the new construction or renovation project. This structure makes designs systematically comparable and provides a reliable basis for decision-making for new construction and renovation projects.
»Future-proof hospital architecture creates structures that enable digitalization, automation, and flexible processes, thereby strengthening and harmonizing efficiency and quality of care in hospital operations.«
Malin Gerhardt M. Sc.conducts research on hospital logistics in the Health Care Logistics team at Fraunhofer IML.
A logistics-based assessment of the draft design for a hospital is based on specific areas of expertise. The analysis of transport access separates emergency, delivery, and visitor flows and ensures uninterrupted access. Central goods receiving areas in supply or service buildings direct material flows separately from people flows. Within the building, short distances between patient rooms and ward bases, as well as defined handover and buffer areas, ensure efficient care.
In driverless transport systems, parking and maneuvering areas, buffer spaces, and dedicated logistics routes are becoming increasingly important in order to maintain transport speeds. The evaluation of route lengths and usage intensities supports the architectural competition for the new clinic and hospital building. It enables conclusions to be drawn about structural designs and promotes sustainable, economical hospital planning.
Sustainable hospital planning through integrated design planning (KU Special 07/2025)
Technical article "Sustainable hospital planning through integrated design planning" in KU Special Planen & Bauen, July 2025 issue. Authors: Andrea Raida and Malin Gerhardt.
Find out now about the opportunities for your project in the architectural competition for the construction of new clinics and hospitals.
Logistics influences almost all processes in a hospital. It controls the flow of materials, people, and information and shapes the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of a new hospital building. Integrating logistics into hospital planning at an early stage lays the foundation for future-proof, patient-oriented structures.
In the architectural competition for new hospital construction, our experts evaluate designs based on space allocation, route concepts, and future logistics concepts. Benchmarks, logistical criteria, and an evaluation matrix support informed decisions. This results in hospital planning that aligns new construction and renovations with logistics requirements.
The analysis of traffic access considers emergency traffic, delivery traffic, and parking or visitor traffic separately. In the architectural competition for a new hospital building, these requirements are incorporated into route and space concepts. The goal is to ensure uninterrupted access for emergency patients and efficient design of new hospital buildings.
Driverless transport systems require defined parking spaces, maneuvering areas, and dedicated logistics routes. Buffer zones at the end of transport routes ensure smooth transfers. When planning hospital facilities, taking these requirements into account helps to maintain automated transport at the desired speeds and avoid efficiency losses.
Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML