Special issue: specialised facilities

Citation

(2005), "Special issue: specialised facilities", Facilities, Vol. 23 No. 5/6. https://doi.org/10.1108/f.2005.06923eaa.001

Special issue: specialised facilities

Much of the research work covered in Facilities relates to modern workplace environments, particularly office facilities. But there is also a growing body of knowledge about non-work related facilities such as hospitals, prisons and schools. Such environments present unique challenges. The most problematic issue is defining what they are there for. Hospitals are no longer just places for treatment and recovery. Many now provide accommodation for visiting families and friends. Some may provide a range of retailing outlets, whilst others may provide a range of facilities for healthy living. Prisons are no longer just places for incarceration, increasingly providing a structured pathway for returning offenders back into the community. Schools are increasingly adopting features of the modern office environment, with the implementation of wireless mobile computing and flexible work settings. The homogenous role of these facilities is being superseded by a much more heterogeneous set of roles, whereby hospitals become more like hotels and schools become more like office workplaces.

Related to the question of defining what these facilities exist for, is the question of how to measure their performance. This is illustrated in three of the papers in this special issue which relates to schools, where attempts are made to associate productivity with good building design. What exactly is the purpose of a school? To produce students with core academic skills? To produce students with communication skills suited to the 21st century? Or, in addition, to develop students that are socially rounded and ethically aware? Until such basic questions are defined, it is difficult to measure the success or failure of the facility itself. This problem of complex and changing ambitions also arises in other specialised buildings. The facilities manager is thus confronted by a dynamic that continually challenges the existing assumptions. Add to this the problem of forecasting (a science increasingly required for long-term procurement approaches such as Public Private Partnerships or Design Build and Operate) and the facilities manager becomes overwhelmed by possible consequences. The old adage “the only thing that's certain is uncertainty” has never been more appropriate than when applied to the field of facilities management.