Redesigning Care: New Guidelines to Elevate Hong Kong’s Public Hospitals

Jacobs, working alongside Perkins Eastman, P&T Architects and Lexica, is supporting the development of new Facility Design Guidelines (FDG) for Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority (HA). The guidelines will help shape the future design and planning of public hospitals, clinics and healthcare-related facilities across the region.

The FDG will serve as a comprehensive and standardized framework for public healthcare infrastructure—ensuring consistency, flexibility and innovation across future developments. It will provide best practice guidance on design principles for clinical and support spaces, with a strong focus on patient safety, operational efficiency, environmental sustainability and the integration of new technologies.

At the core of this initiative is a commitment to embedding HA’s vision, mission and values into every aspect of healthcare design. The guidelines will prioritize safety, privacy, dignity and well-being for patients, staff and visitors. They will also support seamless workflows, efficient use of space and improved service delivery. The framework encourages modular design and leverages HA’s existing knowledge base to support continuous improvement.

“This project represents a transformative step forward for public healthcare delivery in Hong Kong,” says Jacobs Global Solutions Director for Health Infrastructure Matthew Holmes. “By developing comprehensive, future-ready design guidelines, we’re not only setting new benchmarks for efficiency, safety and patient-centric care—we’re also embedding innovation and sustainability into the foundation of healthcare infrastructure.”

The FDG will offer detailed guidance for architects, healthcare planners and engineers, including requirements for engineering systems, technical standards, digital delivery and environmental performance. These guidelines align with HA’s long-term development roadmap and strategic goals.

The project is being delivered by Jacobs’ multidisciplinary team of architects, health planners, digital specialists and technical professionals across Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Singapore. This global capability, paired with regional insight, enables a practical, evidence-based approach grounded in digital innovation and health planning expertise—ensuring resilient and forward-looking outcomes for HA.