RESEARCH
ANA MARÍA SANDOVAL, ASTRID-MARIA DEBUCHY, MARÍA SUSANA ALBORNOZ, VALERIA ALEJANDRA MARTÍNEZ, AND PABLO DANIEL VIQUEIRA – ARCHITECTS, UNIVERSITY OF BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
Addressing concept of ‘quality’as a design tool
Ana María Sandoval, Astrid-Maria Debuchy, María Susana Albornoz, Valeria Alejandra Martínez, and Pablo Daniel Viqueira discuss an innovative research programme that examines the concept of ‘quality’ within a healthcare design context.
The Research Center on Health Facility Planning CIRFS (Centro de Investigación en Planeamiento del Recurso Físico en Salud) of the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urbanism of the University of Buenos Aires (FADU/UBA), Argentina, was founded in 1979. Its purpose is to develop research, teaching, information, and technical cooperation programmes on health facility planning. As part of its research programme, CIRFS is developing a line of study whose theme and guiding thread are the ‘quality of physical resources in health’. CIRFS recognises the significant impact of the quality of physical resources on the quality of healthcare. The research addresses the concept of quality – understood as an essential tool to consider for the health facility planning
process. Quality must be much more than an external attribute of the spatial envelope of a technical solution. It should not be something added to the building in its final construction phase, but should influence the entire planning process at all stages of its design. Therefore, it was essential to develop a specific study of the quality of physical resources as part of the overall healthcare infrastructure. The research developed by CIRFS
encompasses five projects. Three of them are accredited by the Science and Technology Secretariat of the University of Buenos Aires (UBACyT Projects), followed by two research projects from the Research Secretariat of the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urbanism of the University of Buenos Aires (PIA Projects). El Instituto Técnico para la
Acreditación de Establecimientos de Salud (ITAES), recognised as an International Accreditation Institute by The International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua), collaborated on some of these projects, having signed a Technical Cooperation agreement for this purpose.
A brief description of the projects 1. Health facility quality assurance (UBACyT Project 2011-2014) In this first project, the research centre CIRFS seeks to develop variables for quality assurance in physical resources in health, as well as their application and evaluation in a specific service. The conceptual framework for this
project was designed based on the contributions of various domestic and
Ana María Sandoval
Astrid-Maria Debuchy
María Susana Albornoz
•Ana María Sandoval is an architect at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Buenos Aires (FAU/UBA) and director of the Research Center on Health Facility Planning, Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urbanism at the University of Buenos Aires (CIRFS/FADU/UBA). She is coordinator and Full Professor of the Specialisation Program and the Master’s Degree in Health Facility Planning taught by CIRFS/FADU/UBA at the Research Secretariat of the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urbanism, University of Buenos Aires (SI/FADU/UBA). •Architect Astrid-Maria Debuchy holds a Ph.D. in Architecture from the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the National University of La Plata (UNLP). A specialist in Health Facility Planning (CIRFS/FADU/UBA), she is Adjunct Professor at the Research Secretariat of the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urbanism, University of Buenos Aires (SI/FADU/UBA), director of Region III ‘The Americas’ of the Public Health Group of the International Union of Architects (UIA/PHG), and Official Liaison of UIA/PHG to IFHE.
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Valeria Alejandra Martínez
Pablo Daniel Viqueira
•María Susana Albornoz is an architect specialist in Health Facility Planning (CIRFS/FADU/UBA) and a full Professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, National University of La Plata (UNLP). She is also a researcher at the Research Secretariat of the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urbanism, University of Buenos Aires (SI/FADU/UBA) and lecturer of the Master’s Degree in Health Facility Planning, Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urbanism, University of Buenos Aires (CIRFS/FADU/UBA). •Valeria Alejandra Martínez is an architect specialist and Master’s candidate in Health Facility Planning (CIRFS/FADU/UBA) and a researcher at the Research Secretariat of the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urbanism, University of Buenos Aires (SI/FADU/UBA) as well as being a postgraduate student in BIM Revit (FADU/UBA). •Pablo Daniel Viqueira is an specialist and Master’s candidate in Health Facility Planning (CIRFS/FADU/UBA), a researcher at the Research Secretariat of the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urbanism, University of Buenos Aires (SI/FADU/UBA). He holds a graduate certificate in Quality Assessment of Health Organisations (ITAES) and is lecturer of the Master’s in Public Health, Foundation Barceló.
IFHE DIGEST 2026
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