Evidence-based design in the COVID-19 pandemic control context

The architectural design of Hospitals can contribute to the humanization of care and to combat the transmission of pathogens through strategies of natural ventilation and social segregation and distancing in areas of potential agglomeration. The occurrence of epidemics and pandemics highlights the importance of research related to the physical space, aimed at establishing design guidelines with an emphasis on preventing contamination, while valuing the user's sense of security and the humanization of hospital spaces. The proposed research addresses the physical space of HU-UFSCar, modeling virtually three scenarios: i) organization of the main spaces and flows prior to the pandemic and ventilation CFD, referring to the original project; ii) the spatial adjustments implemented during the pandemic and the current natural ventilation CFD model; and iii) simulate spatial organization alternatives, flows and natural ventilation schemes. The simulated scenarios will be evaluated through interviews with patient users to discuss the sense of security in relation to the hospital stay; interviews with the hospital health professionals about the perception of the effectiveness of alternatives regarding biological protection related to contamination by infectious diseases; evaluation through mathematical CFD models of the efficiency of natural ventilation. Once the results and evidence are generated, it is intended to organize design guidelines for hospitals to be considered permanently and guidelines to be implemented in pandemic scenarios.