The state-of-the-art hospital is part of the Shanghai International Medical City campus that will also include an innovative Shared Facility, two additional hospitals and four specialized centers of excellence. Huashan Hospital will be the first of the facilities to be constructed, and will set the standard for a campus intended to attract patients from other parts of China, as well as international medical tourists who are seeking advanced care at affordable prices in the world’s most populous country. The GS&P team developed a competition submittal that reflects the client’s ambitious goals for the campus, which include an innovative medical facility that showcases the future of medicine in China, patientfocused care, efficient operation, landmark-quality architecture and green building practices. “Shanghai is an example of China’s expertise in technology, finance and healthcare. Part of the reasoning behind the campus is to elevate healthcare and present it as a model for other parts of China,” says David Stewart, a member of the team working on the project at GS&P’s Shanghai and Nashville offices. “Huashan Hospital is one of the first facilities on the campus, and it is important that the design not only fulfills its specific goals, but also
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Client
Location
Huashan Hospital
Shanghai, China
provides operational and aesthetic benchmarks for the rest of the campus to follow.”
that nature and technology play in the healing process. Patients and caregivers in the radiology department, for example, benefit from ample sunlight and rooftop gardens that provide natural, recuperative settings. Windows throughout the facility open to let in outside air, which, while adding to the engineering challenges of designing the central heating and air-conditioning system, was essential to meeting the cultural expectations of the Chinese, who value the movement of fresh air.
Changing requirements and new challenges Initially intended to have a mix of financing sources, Huashan Hospital is now a public hospital receiving the Chinese equivalent of federal funding. This shift in ownership and project requirements, including a change in the size of the facility, means the design team has had to reconsider the approach and reaffirm the goal of bringing the best of two cultures together. “Cost has become more of a concern as the project has evolved, but even though it is receiving public financing, they are committed to making it unique from a flow and design perspective. The size may have changed from 150,000 square meters to 120,000, but we’re still focused on not designing a standard Chinese hospital. It starts with Chinese requirements, but we are trying to bring the best from the East and the West,” says Stewart. Huashan Hospital’s landmarkquality design creates spaces and forms that express the dual roles
“Cultural differences, and the hospital’s emphasis on patientfocused care are reflected in the design of individual patient rooms,” says Stewart. “Most of the rooms have a southern exposure to bring in as much natural light as possible. To honor this Chinese custom, we studied the hours of sunlight and shadows a room will receive throughout the year. Unlike the United States, where private hospital rooms are the norm, most of Huashan’s patient rooms have three beds and are intended to become a community of patients and families offering mutual support to one another. All of the beds are angled toward the windows, and headwalls extend to provide a degree of privacy when desired. A patient’s expectation of personal space is different from ours, and a patient in a private