Distinct processes of digital masterplanning for Hospital 2030

Designing for digital in the built environment requires an end-to-end approach that allows all components of the built environment to talk to each other. With digital masterplanning, we can develop our environment for the experiences we want and prepare them for the ones we can’t even imagine yet. Digital masterplanning includes three distinct processes that provide clients with both a conceptual design and implementation roadmap for ICT infrastructure, systems, and digital technologies.

1. Identifying digital enablers (conceptual and schematic design)

The critical characteristic of Hospital 2030’s design stage is establishing the hospital’s digital cores alongside its design scheme. For Hospital 2030, consultants and project stakeholders are encouraged to envision the hospital’s future operations enabled by technology. Discussions on digital masterplanning will develop holistic project milestones and vision statements that extend beyond design and construction into the operational phase. Some common examples of digital cores discussed during the conceptual design stage that affect the project brief and design are artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted workforce allocation, AI-driven sustainability, predictive clinical diagnosis, telehealth, and telemedicine.

After outlining the project’s vision statements and broad planning guidelines, the team must determine the current state of critical user experience and workflows for design and digital intervention. During the typical user design workshops, the project team should identify the user pain points and explore future workflow scenarios, extending the discussion to include where the technology may provide potential solutions. This exercise, as illustrated in Table 3 below, allows us to derive the corresponding digital enablers.

Because the state of technology is constantly evolving and updating, it’s recommended during the design stage to capture the functional requirements of digital enablers, instead of committing to specific technological solutions that may change or become less relevant as the project progresses. After finalising the digital enablers and their functions with the clients, the project team can progress with developing the roadmap of transitioning digital enablers into their material counterparts – digital twins.

2. Areas of ‘phygital’ interfacing (detailed planning and construction)

With the determined set of digital enablers and their functional requirements, consultants from the project team should develop a stacking diagram of the proposed digital enablers. This articulates the digital enablers’ detailed “jobs to be done” that share functions, perform distinct tasks, and meet their potential physical requirements. Figure 2 below explores a conceptual stacking diagram. When developing the stacking diagram for digital planning of Hospital 2030, a key consideration would be the digital enablers’ location and engagement with users to establish functional adjacency within the hospital that aligns with the physical design.

Benefits of a stacking diagram for digital enablers

1. Provides clients with a clear overall viewpoint that breaks down digital enablers from their traditionally isolated silos.
2. Collects all the jobs to be done from all consultants’ perspectives to fully appreciate the magnitude of undertaking systematically.
3. Establishes clear operational objectives for design, e.g. rooms with different capacities to measure utilisation during operation.
4. Provides quick grouping of shared resources and spatial requirements and establishes locality of digital enablers in back-of-house and front-of-house categories.
5. Distinguishes phygital interfacing tasks from tech-only tasks.
6. Enables the project team to prioritise jobs to be done by identifying major components critical to Hospital 2030 needs (e.g. command centre).

Concurrently, while developing the stacking diagram for the digital enablers, the project team should consult with the client’s operational team on the timeline for onboarding the future digital twins during operations. Phasing plans for the digital twins should be proposed and aligned with the project’s construction, as illustrated in Figure 3 below. This exercise outlines the digital transformation roadmap for converting and transitioning digital enablers towards digital twins. Considerations on phasing include the early on-boarding of digital twins that can be initiated during the project’s construction phase.

The utilisation of digital twins at the early design and planning stage allows for the total capitalisation of integrated digital delivery (IDD)² and design for manufacturing and assembly in construction, resulting in faster and more efficient project delivery. This can be seen in augmented reality and environmental simulations to conduct design and construction studies that translate to just-in-time delivery, installation, and monitoring of on-site activities. Similarly, digital twins that are sandboxed during the early stage of the project, such as phase one of Hospital 2030, can start collecting and providing data analysis from the built environment that can inform planning or project co-ordination in subsequent phases.

3. Early contract management and fund planning

The digital transformation roadmap allows the clients’ operational team to have a clear overview of the breadth and depth of the digital and physical projects’ requirements to execute Hospital 2030. In contrast with traditional project planning, an early digital planning approach ensures that future digital solutions are integrated and compatible before Hospital 2030 enters its operational phase. The early digital planning for Hospital 2030’s contract and fund management provides clients with the following benefits:

1. The ability to plan and prioritise fund allocations for various phygital projects (i.e. the proportion of resources dedicated to multiple digital cores, such as telemedicine, AI diagnosis, SMART command centre, etc.)
2. Review the current tech industry and viable digital solutions that address the digital enablers’ requirements – clients can gain better insights into various technical requirements of the digital enablers to draft tender specifications before appointing digital vendors.
3. Clients and the project team can discuss the technical and physical compatibility between the future digital twins and the built environment, which can lead to potential grouping and sharing of material resources, especially across a universal platform.
4. Clients and the project team can develop a working template to implement and execute a series of proofs-of-concept for future digital twins to be rolled out over the project’s timeline.
5. Early co-ordination and discussion between the client’s operational team and the project team during digital masterplanning reduce the time spent understanding the building’s information in traditional post-project handover, potentially bringing forward the payback period for Hospital 2030’s return of investment.

Because the ultimate aim of Hospital 2030 is to integrate all digital twins into a single, integrated platform, such as a command centre, a key component is the use of the master systems integrator (MSI). However, the MSI’s primary function consolidates all critical data into a single platform, and it doesn’t address the various facets of Hospital 2030’s digital transformation. Hence, with the digital transformation roadmap, the client’s operational team can deliberate the overall approach towards establishing the MSI.

In a McKinsey article, there are two main techniques for developing an integrated digital healthcare system: the string-of-pearls approach and the superapp approach³. In a simulated charrette with a team of healthcare providers and consultants for Hospital 2030, we found that for AEC-based (architecture, engineering and construction) digital twins, the string-of-pearls approach is preferred, as it allows for the quick sandboxing of multiple proofs-of-concept within a defined geospatial scope (such as a single ward) that can be easily scaled across the hospital’s infrastructure. Furthermore, the string-of-pearls approach gives clients flexibility and greater choice in appointing different vendors for Hospital 2030 future digital twins. Consultants also provided feedback that due to the novelty of AEC-based digital twins, the string-of-pearls approach allowed the AEC consultants to develop their subject matter expertise in moderation.

Significance – designing for a seamless experience

The quality of the built environment is only one aspect of the design. Invisible elements like data-enabled connectivity are helping to create specific environments and user experiences that allow us to personalise how we interact with patients and other users in ways that could enhance our enjoyment, health and productivity. These data are the building blocks on which people can develop the digital tools that allow us to customise our environments and interactions, depending on our preferences and requirements. This could mean anything from adjusting your overhead lighting and air conditioning using your phone, to pre-ordering research supplies from your supplier.

Access to more information puts control in the user’s hands. Gathering and presenting data that offer this to people have led to a proliferation of apps and services. Collection, aggregation and analysis of data are the crucial lynchpin. It drives improvements in user experience, and these experiences allow people to work more collaboratively and more creatively.

Research, teaching and treatment will no longer be restricted to laboratories, classrooms and hospitals. The healthcare facility becomes all of the above, where you develop ideas, learn, and deliver care regardless of location. This translates to enhancing the quality and utility of spaces through adaptability based on personal choice.

Experiences will be the currency of the future, and greater efforts will have to be invested in encompassing the additional but essential considerations of future-proofing and resiliency. As users and stakeholders have access to abundant personalisation services, similar expectations will be placed on the built environment. The digital masterplanning will integrate with the physical infrastructure planning, representing the digital layer that is seldom considered in the traditional planning and design.

Deriving the digital masterplan is a collaborative process where the design team will work with the stakeholders to understand the core needs and how those experiences could be delivered. The engagement builds an understanding of the types of experiences that will provide enhanced enjoyment and engagement with the built environment. It consists of some core components, as summarised below:

Creating meaningful experiences will be a critical success metric for the smart campus of the future. We can play a role in putting forward the enabling technology, research, learning, and care models, and gain value from:

1. Better design decisions by designing transformative user experiences, putting forward innovative care and learning concepts. This strengthens brand identity and market position.
2. Space maximisation driven by data and digital tools allows under-utilised and high potential spaces to be identified, translating into additional high yield, high-value generation opportunities⁴.
3. Lower maintenance requirements generate cost savings in terms of workforce and materials.
4. Enhanced user experience through deep integration between the physical and digital worlds creates meaningful, personalised and memorable experiences. The high memorability of spaces and user satisfaction through better-designed places enhance the organisation’s brand, while achieving more significant differentiation.
5. Optimisation creates value for businesses, as operational inefficiencies and wastage are removed through improved processes and the strategic deployment of technology solutions. This results in better funds allocation and project overview for the organisation.
6. Sustainable design through streamlining workflows, addressing workforce allocation, remote monitoring, cost savings, and large-scale outreach.

The digital masterplanning methodology started as a theoretical framework for Hospital 2030, and it’s been progressively refined as we put it into practice through a commissioned masterplanning project. It integrates all of the elements needed to achieve a seamless and inspirational digital experience, and is specially designed to be incorporated seamlessly as part of the traditional design process, making its adoption easy and natural. Digital masterplanning strengthens the organisation’s vision with a universal and robust framework that considers both software and hardware perspectives.

Ultimately, the digital masterplanning methodology offers a flexible tool that is simultaneously scalable in magnitude and transferable across building typologies for implementation, pushing the designer to better connect and streamline operational workflows with sustainable infrastructure building and project delivery in mind. This will be instrumental in moving the AEC industry towards the next tier of digital transformation, as we continue to work towards an imminent future of endless possibilities and brighter tomorrows.

About the authors

Doreen Koh Yan Fun is senior principal architect and Dr Jin-Ting Lee principal architectural associate at CPG Consultants. Shao Yen Tan is group chief innovation officer at CPG Corporation.