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East meets West in hospital design

East meets West in hospital design


August 11, 2010
This article first appeared in the 200912 issue of BD+C.

The Los Angeles office of HMC Architects and the Chinese firm Shunde Architectural Design Institute won the commission to design the 2.15 million-sf First People's Hospital in the Shunde District of Foshan, China. The team's winning concept organizes a series of buildings around a dynamic, curved spine element to create an interior “eco-atrium” with outdoor green space and healing gardens. A tower intersects the spine, marking the 1,500-bed hospital's center point and dividing the campus into four distinct zones—public, outpatient, support, and quiet. The project's green features include locally sourced materials, photovoltaic panels, natural daylighting, water recycling, chilled beams, and low-VOC materials.

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