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The purpose of this paper is to identify, analyze and discuss floor finishes used in health-care facilities and their selection criteria in the form of advantages and disadvantages. The authors also identify the top three health-care floor finishes and selection criteria based on the literature review results. Although flooring materials have a considerable impact on the life-cycle cost and indoor environment of health-care facilities, what criteria may be used for such flooring choices is not thoroughly studied.

The authors performed a systematic review of the literature on certain flooring systems currently used in health-care facilities and the criteria applied for their selection. Peer-reviewed studies and articles published after Year 2000 consistent with the research design were included.

Sixteen different selection criteria that influence the choice of floor finishes in health-care facilities were determined and discussed. The results show that the top three-floor finish materials preferred in health-care facilities are sheet vinyl, rubber and carpet, and the top three selection criteria for floor finishes are indoor air quality, patient safety and infection control.

The results of this study will assist building owners, architects and interior designers with implementing an informed design decision-making process, particularly in relation to floor finish selection. The findings will also provide guidance to floor finish manufacturers to improve their products based on facility managers’ preferences.

The purpose of this study is to create a knowledge base for decision-making in healthcare design by seeking, analyzing and discussing the preferences of facility managers of healthcare facilities regarding floor finishes and their selection criteria. The goal is to enable a simplified and holistic selection of floor finishes based on multiple criteria. The authors studied floor finish selection in three healthcare units: emergency, surgery and in-patient units.

The authors completed a literature review to identify types of floor finishes currently used in healthcare facilities and the criteria applied for their selection. Using the literature survey results, a questionnaire was designed and administered to healthcare facility managers. The descriptive statistical analysis and the Friedman and Wilcoxon signed-ranks tests were used for reporting and analyzing the survey data.

The top five floor finishes used in the healthcare sector were identified as vinyl flooring, vinyl composite tile (VCT), rubber, linoleum and ceramic flooring. The top five selection criteria for floor finishes were durability, infection control, ease of maintenance, maintenance cost and user safety. The non-parametric test results show that the floor finish rankings and selection criteria were similar in the three healthcare units under study.

The most significant contribution of this research is to the design decision-making process of healthcare facilities. These results offer an understanding of what floor finishes are preferred by healthcare facility managers and why. This knowledge is crucial for designers and facility managers to make informed choices and floor finish manufacturers to keep their product line relevant to the industry.

Examines the tenth published year of the ITCRR. Runs the whole gamut of textile innovation, research and testing, some of which investigates hitherto untouched aspects. Subjects discussed include cotton fabric processing, asbestos substitutes, textile adjuncts to cardiovascular surgery, wet textile processes, hand evaluation, nanotechnology, thermoplastic composites, robotic ironing, protective clothing (agricultural and industrial), ecological aspects of fibre properties – to name but a few! There would appear to be no limit to the future potential for textile applications.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and assess the key performance indicators (KPIs) for the maintenance of public hospital buildings in the Gaza Strip.

Four KPIs were identified and evaluated in this paper: building performance indicators (BPI), maintenance efficiency indicators (MEI), annual maintenance expenditure (AME) and urgent repair request indicator. Twenty-one buildings in 13 public hospitals in Gaza Strip Governorate were taken as the sample of this study.

The results indicated that the European Gaza hospital has the highest BPI score (81.66) and the Dorra hospital has the lowest BPI score (68.26). The findings revealed that the average AME for all hospitals was $13.8/m2 which is considered to be below the standard level of expenditure. The MEI for Gaza public hospital buildings was found to be equal to 0.3 which indicated low level of maintenance expenditure.

Unavailability of certain data, lack of maintenance documentation and comparison difficulty between the Gaza Strip and Israel due to political, cultural and financial situation were some of the limitations of this study.

The Ministry of Health (MoH) can utilize the results of this study and consider it as benchmarking for maintenance management in public hospital buildings. This can improve the current maintenance situation which ultimately will improve the health-care situation in Palestine. The Palestinian MoH should look for external funding to increase the AME, as well as aim at increasing the MEI.

The health-care situation in Palestine will be improved.

This study is considered the first study to identify and assess the KPIs in the Gaza Strip. KPIs will assist the MoH to compare the actual and estimated performance in terms of effectiveness, efficiency and quality of workmanship.

In the first part of this article which appeared last month, Mr. Diamond dealt with the composition, application and drying of anti‐corrosive paints. Here he considers the many uses of paint for corrosion prevention in industries ranging from motor cars to chemicals.

Examines the ninth published year of the ITCRR. Runs the whole gamut of textile innovation, research and testing, some of which investigates hitherto untouched aspects. Subjects discussed include cotton fabric processing, asbestos substitutes, textile adjuncts to cardiovascular surgery, wet textile processes, hand evaluation, nanotechnology, thermoplastic composites, robotic ironing, protective clothing (agricultural and industrial), ecological aspects of fibre properties – to name but a few! There would appear to be no limit to the future potential for textile applications.

As hospitals are now being designed with an increasing number of single rooms or cubicles, the individual preference of patients with respect to social contact is of great interest. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of the experience of patients in an outpatient infusion center.

A total of 29 semi-structured interviews were conducted, transcribed and analyzed by using direct content analysis.

Findings showed that patients perceived a lack of acoustic privacy and therefore tried to emotionally isolate themselves or withheld information from staff. In addition, patients complained about the sounds of infusion pumps, but they were neutral about the interior features. Patients who preferred non-talking desired enclosed private rooms and perceived negative distraction because of spatial crowding. In contrast, patients who preferred talking, or had no preference, desired shared rooms and perceived positive distraction because of spatial crowding.

In conclusion, results showed a relation between physical aspects (i.e. physical enclosure) and the social environment.

The findings allow facility managers to better understand the patients’ experiences in an outpatient infusion facility and to make better-informed decisions. Patients with different preferences desired different physical aspects. Therefore, nursing staff of outpatient infusion centers should assess the preferences of patients. Moreover, architects should integrate different types of treatment places (i.e. enclosed private rooms and shared rooms) in new outpatient infusion centers to fulfill different preferences and patients should have the opportunity to discuss issues in private with nursing staff.

This study emphasizes the importance of a mix of treatment rooms, while new hospital designs mainly include single rooms or cubicles.

This paper aims to introduce the concept of biomorphism (i.e. indirect experience of nature) in servicescape designs and validates its impact on consumer responses. Using the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) framework, this study explores the relationship between biomorphic servicescape designs and the servicescape preference. Further, it explains how biomorphic designs can help users to get better connected with the servicescapes by introducing the mediating role of attention restoration and place identity (emotional and cognitive), as explained by attention restoration theory.

Two empirical studies were carried out to test the hypothesised relationships: an exploratory pre-experimental design with one-shot treatment using 200 images as stimuli and 3,680 responses; and a 3 × 2 factorial design with three-dimensional images with about 654 responses for three service contexts chosen a priori: fashion retail, restaurant and hospital lobby.

This study conceptualises the role of biomorphism – elements that mimic natural forms – in servicescape designs and establishes that, akin to natural elements, the indirect experience of nature in servicescapes also has a positive influence on attention restoration, perceived place identity and servicescape preference of the consumers. This implies that the effects similar to that of a biophilic servicescape can be achieved through servicescape elements that mimic natural forms.

Extending the idea of biophilia, this research adopts the concept of biomorphism from architecture and environmental psychology domains and introduces biomorphic servicescape designs, which could be more practical at times compared to biophilic servicescapes. It establishes the influences of biomorphic servicescape designs on consumer preferences. Grounded in the S-O-R model, it further explains this relationship through mediating effects of attention restoration and place identity. Being new to marketing and management domains, this research may trigger a series of research studies on biomorphic service environment designs, with desirable implications for services marketing and services operations functions.

Valuable historical monuments have important potential in the context of cultural tourism in cities. In addition, for the protection of these structures, in terms of ensuring social and cultural sustainability, it is also important to transfer these values to future generations.

The social and cultural sustainability of Erzurum Great Mosque is investigated by viewing the social and cultural sustainability of the mosque through the factors created by Chan and Lee and the criteria created by Stubbs.

As a result, the social and cultural sustainability of Erzurum Great Mosque is revealed, allowing us to propose what should be done to transfer the values of this structure, which has historical and cultural significance, and the culture it represents to future generations.

This study contributes to the literature as to evaluate a historical building, in terms of social–cultural sustainability.

New proprietary products continue to evolve. Many of them are water‐borne and are motivated by ecological considerations. Specialty products whose producers hope that their specialised nature will capture small but profitable areas of the market also continue to appear. Following is a review of some of the products that have evolved in the recent past.