Two years ago this week, Hurricane Katrina tore through the Gulf Coast, inflicting damage and devastation from which residents and businesses are still recovering. Among the many lessons coming from this and other disasters is the role that thoughtful facility design can play in helping buildings — and their occupants — survive.

Shortly after the hurricane, I interviewed managers with three New Orleans hospitals for an article in the November 2005 issue of Maintenance Solutions.

Amid the devastation and seemingly against all odds, their facilities had remained open during and after the hurricane. Here’s what I learned:

“Just how had the hospitals managed to weather the hurricane and remain open and functional, while the rest of the metropolitan area descended into flooding and chaos? All three managers point to their facilities’ locations: The organizations’ founders and designers had located the facilities near either the lake or the river — higher ground than the bowl of New Orleans that suffered the heaviest flooding when levees broke.”

One lesson? Pessimism generally isn’t popular, but it can be instructive. When it comes to facility design, owners and managers can help themselves and future occupants of facilities by forcing architects and designers to think pessimistically: Imagine the worst that could happen to a planned facility in a disaster, then figure out how its design can help the building withstand the situation and put occupants in the best position to survive.

Owners and managers looking for guidance in preparing for a disaster can check out a special session at the upcoming Facilities Midwest Conference and Expo on Sept. 18-19. The session is designed to put attendees in the throes of a real-life disaster situation, as it unfolds.