FlexeSpace

Prefabricated Building System for Healthcare Environments

Hospital facilities face a constant battle between their fundamental mission, i.e. the delivery of healthcare, and the ongoing need for refurbishment and redevelopment. Inevitably progress requires construction. Yet any building maintenance or renovation is unfavorable to infection-control and typically causing a hygiene catastrophe.

For this reason, the acceptance of so-called prefab environments in the design of special care areas, such as the OR and Critical Care, has grown to the point that this has become a standard approach for many countries. Now emerging in North America, this tendency will inevitably develop into a new standard for healthcare.

The FlexeSpace prefabricated modular system is designed purposely for the construction of healthcare interiors, surpassing current infection-control requirements. It offers technological innovation and extreme flexibility, with its basic composition of a metal sub-frame to which finishing panels, doors and integrated accessories such as recessed monitors are mounted. The design of the FlexeSpace System ensures that the same basic sub-frame can be clad with a variety of finishing panels.

BENEFITS:

CLEAN SPACE

From the design of the wall panels to the ingeniously dismantling wall system, the FlexeSpace System delivers a clean environment. It is easy to wipe down thanks to its rounded wall corners. Smooth and non-porous solid surfaces sustain cleanliness. What's more, all wall-mounted elements can be recessed in order to remove problematic items from the clean OR space, such as wall-mounted monitors. Now 100% of wall surfaces can be decontaminated!

CONFIDENCE

Medicana's innovative prefab building system uses materials purposely designed for healthcare. The use of prefabricated modular systems allows costs to be clearly stated well in advance. Construction times are significantly shorter, thereby saving time and money.

RETURN ON INVESTMENT (R.O.I.)

Considering the financial importance of OR's, Medical Imaging suites and ICU's in hospitals, any down-time represents a very high opportunity cost to the hospital. Addressing this risk is one of the greatest strengths of the FlexeSpace System.

In contrast with conventional walls where demolition and reconstruction are sometimes required, the FlexeSpace System can be easily dismantled and reassembled as needed. This significantly reduces time and costs when dealing with building maintenance and remodeling. Comparing the life-cycle cost of conventional versus FlexeSpace construction, the return on investment is undeniable: the FlexeSpace System is a profitable investment.

HYGIENE AND INFECTION CONTROL

Rather than using gypsum board which causes dust, requires painting, sanding and other maintenance, the FlexeSpace System uses wall materials that are clean and prefinished – therefore better suited to healthcare. Any building intervention in a FlexeSpace area is “clean” since there is no more demolition, plastering, sanding or painting.

VERSATILITY

With FlexeSpace, modifications can easily be accommodated at the job site whenever changes are contemplated. Throughout the project, low noise and clean & dry installation procedures allow adjacent hospital departments to operate while work is in progress, thus ensuring minimum interference with adjoining spaces.

MODULARITY MEANS DESIGN FLEXIBILITY

Rather than offering cookie-cutter models, the FlexeSpace System is a designer-friendly building system. The system consists of a versatile framing mechanism and a choice of wall panels, ceiling, door and flooring solutions. To complete the system, a full complement of accessories is available to accommodate the clinical need for monitors and wall-mounted devices while keeping them recessed in the wall. Oversized monitors are kept behind a flush-mounted glass surface, leaving wall surfaces uninterrupted and easy to clean from end to end.

FLEXIBILITY INTO THE FUTURE

Once operational, the FlexeSpace System is designed to simplify changes to the clinical space to meet unforeseen healthcare requirements, such as the addition of lead shielding. Upgrades and adaptations to the latest technological advances are straightforward and easy to implement.

COMFORT AND VISUAL IMPACT

Combining the use of high quality materials with the latest industrial design, the FlexeSpace System greatly enhances the comfort and visual aesthetics of the workspace. Rooms outfitted with the FlexeSpace System consistently improve the facility's image and ability to recruit talent.

 

ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES:

Rounded wall corners

The total absence of sharp corners is a necessity for infection control

Recessed wall inserts

Wall-mounted devices such as monitors are recessed in the wall and covered by a glass in order to create a completely flush-mounted solution; cables and wall-mounting hardware are completely concealed behind the wall.

Finishing panels

The FlexeSpace System offers anti-glare finishing materials with a wide range of performance features and costs.

Versatility of the system

The FlexeSpace System uses a universal framing system that can be used in all applications. A mix of high-grade and matching lower-grade wall panels can be combined to create a uniform yet cost-effective look. The most high-tech areas can benefit from our highest performance wall panels while lower-acuity adjacent rooms can be built using less sophisticated materials - all the time retaining the same aesthetics.

Full height finishing panels

In order to prevent contamination, the FlexeSpace System is designed with full-height wall panels, thus eliminating horizontal wall joints between wall panels and minimizing infection risks.

Engineered quality control

The unique engineering of the FlexeSpace System forces the wall panels into a consistent and easily sealed narrow gap. When using solid surface panels, this allows the FlexeSpace System to offer truly monolithic wall surfaces while still maintaining modularity and long term durability.