The 500-bed Jiaxing Kaiyi Hospital is a multi-speciality hospital, serving as a new benchmark for healthcare infrastructure in the Jiaxing Economic and Technological Development Zone. Rooted in patient-centric design, the unique healing and wellness-inspired facility improve the patient experience while meeting the evolving needs of the growing community.
Design
Inspired by the traditional Chinese courtyard, the building’s design is composed of basic patterns that consolidate key program blocks around the light-filled glass atrium. This optimises and reduces travel distance between parts of the hospital while simplifying wayfinding for patients and visitors alike. Upon entering, the lobby welcomes the public inside through a daylit and airy atrium, with living room-like lounge areas and indoor green spaces mimicking the feel of a home, intending to create a calming place of respite for patients, staff and visitors.
Airy atrium in the lobby area
The facility was designed to put the patient’s experience first and establish itself as a place of wellness. Half of the patient rooms in the Integrated Procedures Unit (IPU), for example, face south to maximise access to natural light. In contrast, other features that amplify patient comfort include wider hallways, optimised exterior views, temperature and lighting controls and calming colours.
Designed in a park-like setting, the hospital is set back from major traffic, with vegetation and mature trees to buffer the hospital from surrounding noise. In addition, building orientation captures the prevailing winds and harvests natural daylight, resulting in less reliance on artificial light and providing natural ventilation when needed.
Biophilic design is woven throughout, including the sunken garden next to the B1 restaurant, rooftop gardens on level 4, indoor horizontal and vertical greening, the public garden with walking paths and multiple water features. These connect the outdoor to the indoor and help bring a sense of wellness to users. With an emphasis on resiliency, the design of the building features materials that are environmentally friendly and energy-efficient, promoting energy savings and indoor air quality requirements that exceed China Green Building Two Star sustainable standards.
Sunken garden
Public Amenities
Shared public amenity spaces such as the family hub on the third floor, where the operating theatres’ rooms, ICU, and delivery rooms are located, provide families with a place to rest, pray, and support each other while waiting for their loved ones. Meanwhile, the hospital inpatient tower provides a wide range of amenities. One is a large lecture hall, a sunken garden that connects to restaurants and a public park with water features and seating areas. These public spaces are designed to promote social activity amongst patients, visitors and care staff, with the hopes of fostering connection during recovery.
Located in the Jiaxing Economic and Technological Development Zone, the building’s design has also been developed to accommodate evolving technology and the community. Flexible changing needs office spaces allow for future clinical expansion, alongside other clinical functions, including radiology, designed with a modular approach to facilitate development. Sizable operating rooms can accommodate hybrid imagining/surgery or robotic surgery. Phase two of the projects will comprise a senior care facility alongside other public facilities that provide integrated healthcare services better to meet the diverse needs of its growing population.
This is an excerpt. The original article is published in Construction+ Hong Kong Issue 25: Low-Carbon Urban Development. Get the print magazine or subscribe to the digital edition to read the complete article.
PROJECT DATA
Project Name
Columbia Jiaxing Hospital
Location
Shuang Xi road, south San Huan Road, Jiaxing, Zhejiang Provence, China
Completion Date
2021
Gross Floor Area
110,000 square metres
Number of Units
500 beds
Developer
Columbia China
Architecture Firm
B+H Architects
Interior Design Firm
B+H Architects
Medical Planning
B+H Architects
Landscape Architect
B+H Architects
Images
B+H Architects
