It’s official: China opens first green hospital, designed by HMC Architects

A huge, complex project involving many facets of medical care and research in China is meant to be the vanguard hospital in a system of green-designed teaching hospitals to be built throughout the nation.

Designed by HMC Architects, the sprawling three million-sf Shunde Hospital of Southern Medical University, in China, is now open. It is the official pilot green hospital for development of China’s green guide for hospital design.

Completed in late 2017, the teaching hospital includes a 2,000-bed inpatient center, an ambulatory care center that can handle 6,000 patients daily, medical research and infectious disease buildings, and a cancer center.

HMC won the design contract for Shunde Hospital in a hotly contested international competition. The intent of the contest was to design a hospital that combines Western health care innovations with local Chinese practices.

The winning design was influenced by the 2002-2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which affected thousands of people and killed hundreds in Southern China.

Sustainable design helped optimize the hospital’s building performance.

“Sustainable design is a relatively new concept for this region’s medical centers,” says Kirk Rose, AIA, DBIA, Chief Practice Officer, Healthcare, HMC. “Our solution organizes a series of buildings around a dynamic, curved spine to create an ‘eco-atrium’ that has the capacity to handle 7,000 outpatient visits per day while minimizing infection risks.”

David Wakely, courtesy HMC Architects

The complex’s innovative design features include an outdoor plaza that reflect Shunde’s tradition of waterways and terracotta-making. It’s a green, open, welcoming space that is used by the entire community.

Natural ventilation, stack effect, and chilled structural beams address cooling needs of the complex, while solar fins and photovoltaics help reduce the building’s energy use.

A naturally ventilated five-story atrium, water recycling, and natural daylighting enhance the building’s green design. Locally sourced materials were used in the construction process.

David Wakely, courtesy HMC Architects

Kiwi Information Technolgoy Co. Ltd., courtesy HMC Architects

David Wakely, courtesy HMC Architects

Kiwi Information Technolgoy Co. Ltd.

David Wakely, courtesy HMC Architects

For most of human history, design has mostly considered “typical users” who are fully able-bodied without clinical or emotional disabilities. The problem with this approach is that it offers a limited perspective on how space can positively or negatively influence someone based on their physical, mental, and sensory abilities.

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