Hospitals and clinical laborartories are arguably some of the most demanding and challenging buildings to design which resulted major transformation at rapid pace with the time. They house a diverse range of specialist clinical services each with their own critical design, function and process requirements. With continuous advancements in research, technology, expectations, needs and policy, healthcare planning demands expertise to optimise performance and efficiency, in a challenging competitive market. Hence hospitals and lobartories should be designed and planned to meet the requirements of today and tomorrow that perhaps imitate the saying ‘First we shape our building and then they shape us’. A wellplanned and designed building should control infection rate, provide safety to patients, caregivers and visitors, help improve patients’ recovery and have scope for future expansion and change. Reinforcing these basic principles, guidance on such effective planning and designing is the key focus.