Affiliated Hospitals Center, Boston, Massachusetts, Surgical-Obstetrical Combined Unit, Floor Plan and Working Drawing

Goldberg’s research on hospital design allowed him to refine his ideal of “geo-centric” or “nuclear” plans for spaces where patients would receive direct care, including nursing wards, surgery suites, and intensivecare units. At the most basic level, geocentric spaces were planned with a focal point or epicenter that corresponded to a central activity or purpose. In a hospital setting, these designs describe the optimal location of the individual patient’s body within an area of specialized care. For a surgical suite, for example, Goldberg proposed a ring of six egg-shaped operating rooms, ensuring that all movements in the space remained equidistant from the patient (and surgeon), with the residual pie-shaped spaces reserved for scrub stations, supply closets, and observation rooms. Similarly, Goldberg’s radial design for surgical recovery rooms and intensive-care wards ensured uninterrupted lines of sight to the central nursing stations and privacy for patients, a model that provided the basic spatial and functional principles for all of his future hospitals.