SHANGHAI, China — Gresham, Smith and Partners announced that ground has been broken on the Shanghai New Hongqiao International Medical Center shared facility, the central logistical, clinical and public support facility for the planned medical campus’s five hospitals and additional specialty clinics. Having individual hospitals plug into a centralized facility is a new concept in healthcare delivery, and Shanghai’s shared facility is the first of its kind in the world. GS&P joined representatives from the city of Shanghai on July 23 for a groundbreaking ceremony celebrating the project, which aims to advance healthcare delivery both in China and internationally.
“The design of this project reflects the bold vision of the project leadership who wanted to set a new standard for care delivery, efficiency and sustainability in Chinese healthcare. We feel very privileged and proud to be a part of this remarkable effort,” commented GS&P Principal Kevin Kim, AIA, who delivered a speech at the groundbreaking ceremony. “The unique concept of the shared facility will reduce costs for individual hospitals, and will provide access to cutting-edge technology that those hospitals might not have been able to afford. Though it is being built here in China, it is a concept that the international community should be paying close attention to, as it has the potential to change how many approach healthcare delivery.”
Alongside traditional support services, such as food, laundry, supply storage, loading docks and IT services, the shared facility will house state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging suites, clinical laboratories, pathology laboratories and pharmacy retail and storage. It will also be the public centerpiece of the complex, with amenities including food service, retail, medical exhibition space and underground parking. To maintain the strict separation between materials, patient and public circulations that is the cultural norm in China, designers opted to layer circulation patterns vertically, with service and supply distribution occurring in primarily below-grade tunnels, public activity limited to the main level and patient and staff activity occurring in raised sky bridges between the shared facility and the hospitals that it serves.
In addition to pioneering a new model of healthcare delivery, the Shanghai New Hongqiao International Medical Center is planned as one of the world’s most energy-efficient healthcare campuses. The shared facility’s green design plan integrates energy recovery, energy production and waste management strategies. A double skin façade with horizontal solar shading devices provides a higher insulating value, mitigates solar gain and decreases cooling loads. Numerous green roofs and planted terraces also increase insulation, filter stormwater runoff and contribute to the overall park-like atmosphere of the campus, intended as both a healing environment for patients and staff and a public oasis for citizens of Shanghai.
Construction of the shared facility is currently scheduled to complete in the third quarter of 2015. In addition to the shared facility, the 77-acre medical campus will include the public Huashan Hospital, a cancer treatment hospital, an international hospital for medical tourists and the privately insured and additional specialty clinics, ultimately housing more than 3,000 beds and an estimated 18,000 staff.
