The Magdi Yacoub Heart Centre Cairo has begun construction. The project marks the newest outpost of the Aswan Heart Centre founded by Egyptian surgeon Sir Magdi Yacoub and provides free treatment for the people of Egypt and those in sub-Saharan Africa.
The 300-bed hospital has views of the Pyramids of Giza and is set within a verdant landscape with a lake and seeks to optimize the overall patient experience and decrease recovery times. The site of the hospital borders the Zewail City of Science and Technology, forming part of an integrated health and medical research zone.
The ground floor comprises comprehensive diagnosis and treatment facilities, including an accident and emergency department, a large outpatient clinic, and rehabilitative departments. Several courtyards bring natural light into the building and aid orientation. The surgical department and intensive care units are co-located, minimizing the distance between “bed and bench” and maximizing collaboration between researchers and caregivers.
Eight intensive care units on the first floor are designed to optimize recovery. Each patient room on the ground level is oriented so the patients benefit from landscaped views and the newly formed lake on the northern edge. Prefabricated operating theaters feature carefully planned flows to ensure high clinical safety standards. The hospital will also feature support spaces for families, as well as classrooms and educational spaces for medical students. Single and shared patient rooms on the upper floors are sheltered by sculptural shell-like roof structures.
A green terrace on the second floor will provide break-out space for the staff and visitors. The open terrace is interspersed with built spaces containing a large staff canteen, children’s nurse, and other collaborative meeting spaces.
“This is a special project that focusses on giving the best care to the patients and offering them the best natural setting to recover in,” said Nigel Dancey, Head of Studio, Foster + Partners, said in a release. “It brings together the latest research on biophilia and the positive impact of nature in clinical settings with our pioneering work on collaborative working environments that allow healthcare professionals to give the best care.”
Related Stories
| Aug 26, 2013
13 must-attend continuing education sessions at BUILDINGChicago
Building Design+Construction's new conference and expo, BUILDINGChicago, kicks off in two weeks. The three-day event will feature more than 65 AIA CES and GBCI accredited sessions, on everything from building information modeling and post-occupancy evaluations to net-zero projects and LEED training. Here are 13 sessions I'm planning to attend.
| Aug 22, 2013
Energy-efficient glazing technology [AIA Course]
This course discuses the latest technological advances in glazing, which make possible ever more efficient enclosures with ever greater glazed area.
| Aug 14, 2013
Green Building Report [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Building Design+Construction's rankings of the nation's largest green design and construction firms.
| Jul 30, 2013
Better planning and delivery sought for VA healthcare facilities
Making Veterans Administration healthcare projects “better planned, better delivered” is the new goal of the VA’s Office of Construction and Facilities Management.
| Jul 30, 2013
Healthcare designers get an earful about controlling medical costs
At the current pace, in 2020 the U.S. will spend $4.2 trillion a year on healthcare; unchecked, waste would hit $1.2 trillion. Yet “waste” is keeping a lot of poorly performing hospitals in business, said healthcare facility experts at the recent American College of Healthcare Architects/AIA Academy of Architecture for Health Summer Leadership Summit in Chicago.
| Jul 30, 2013
Healthcare designers and builders, beware: the ‘Obamacare’ clock is ticking down to midnight [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Hard to believe, but we’re only six months away from when the Affordable Care Act will usher in a radical transformation of the American healthcare system. Healthcare operators are scrambling to decipher what the new law will mean to their bottom lines and capital facility budgets.
| Jul 30, 2013
Top Healthcare Sector Construction Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Turner, McCarthy, Clark Group top Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest healthcare contractors and construction management firms in the U.S.
| Jul 30, 2013
Top Healthcare Sector Engineering Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
AECOM, Jacobs, URS top Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest healthcare engineering and engineering/architecture firms in the U.S.
| Jul 29, 2013
2013 Giants 300 Report
The editors of Building Design+Construction magazine present the findings of the annual Giants 300 Report, which ranks the leading firms in the AEC industry.
| Jul 23, 2013
Tell us how you're reimagining the medical office building
"Obamacare" implementation will add thousands of people to the ranks of the insured, including many who formerly sought primary care in emergency rooms. Now, these patients will have coverage that allows them to more easily access the typical treatment channels—and that means greater demand for services provided in medical office buildings.
