ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN - IV

SEM V | III YEAR

HOSPITAL DESIGN
HELEN’S HEALING VILLAGE
___

SCRIPT
TEAM: MOKSHITHA, NEENA, and SHERYL

SHERYL: INTRODUCTION

Good afternoon everyone. We, Mokshitha, Neena and Sheryl are

elated to share with this forum, our hospital design - Helen’s Village.

The word healing comes from the Anglo - Saxon word Haelen, which
means to harmonise with mind, body and spirit.

Thousands of years ago, the Greeks designed Asclepeions that were

healing temples largely centred around promoting healthy lifestyles.

In the 19th century, Florence Nightingale spoke of the importance of

natural light, fresh air and a quiet place of solace for healing, saying that
health care providers should put patients in the best possible condition so
that nature can act and healing can occur.

Mokshitha is here to further elaborate on how organic architecture can

blend with the hospital environment.
 2

MOKSHITHA: ORGANIC GREEN ARCHITECTURE

Environmental friendly green hospitals help faster patient recovery,

through better use of daylight, lush lawns and landscapes, easier access to
the outdoors, improved hygiene and safety. They also save on major energy
and water costs.

Going green for a hospital offers significant benefits to the hospital staff,
patients, visitors to the hospital and the community.

{Important steps to include :

● Choosing an environmentally friendly site,
● Utilising sustainable and efficient designs, using more daylight than
artificial light.
● Appropriate building materials and products,
● Incorporating green concepts during the construction stage, ensuring
maximum recycling and reusing of materials, reducing waste and
reducing CO2 generation for cleaner air. }

We’ve narrowed down a few problems in health care design as Neena

will explain now.
 3

NEENA: THE PROBLEMS IN HEALTHCARE FACILITIES

Hospitals are extremely stressful places for patients, their families and the
staff who work there. Patients are not only faced with the prospect of
dealing with their illness and injury but are forced to reckon with an
environment that further exacerbates their pain and stress.
Hospitals that are noisy, have complicated layouts and confusing
wayfinding systems, poor ventilation and air quality and few positive
distractions are common the world over.
Clinicians and patients are overwhelmed with an ineffective healthcare
system focused on disease over health creation.

Such environments contribute to nosocomial infections, medical errors and other

outcomes. At the least, this can slow down the healing process.

In response, there has been an increasing recognition that quality healthcare and
the delivery of that care need to take a more holistic, patient-centric approach, an
approach that emphasizes healing as important as curing.

SHERYL: HEALTHCARE FACILITIES IN ACCORDANCE WITH CURRENT WORLD TRENDS:

With state of the art capabilities such as electronic health record

systems, robotic surgeries, remote video connections, and medication
safety systems, organizations can increase diagnostic and treatment
efforts and enhance patient outcomes in exciting ways. These
advancements can support cost-effective, patient-centred care, all of
which is thoughtfully integrated into layout and design details.

SHERYL: CASE STUDY EXAMPLE

CARE INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES, AHMEDABAD

 4

The Care Institute of Medical Sciences (CIMS) building at Ahmedabad has

achieved this feat of integrating eco-sensitive elements of design into the
building without compromising on the hospital’s standards.
Drawing inspiration from traditional courtyards, each of the four blocks in the
building stands independently and are connected with courtyards.
In architect Kakani’s own words, “Open spaces were either used to plant
locally available tree species or turned into courtyards. This allows the entry
of natural light and cuts down electricity consumption”

MOKSHITHA: RCC structures in the hospital building have steel bars for
tensile strength and concrete for compressive strength in the beams and
columns of buildings. Load-bearing structures use building blocks such as
bricks or stones. Such structures cut down energy consumption and provide
better insulation. The walls are made primarily of fly ash bricks.

NEENA: The 150-bed green hospital which is one of the first green
hospitals in the country stands as an example of sustainable healthcare.

Now we present the details of our site.

MOKSHITHA: SITE DETAILS

The site is located adjacent to the proposed site for the construction of
AIIMS - All India Institute of Medical Sciences hospital in Thoppur,
Madurai, south Tamil Nadu. Thoppur is a rural village with about 8,78
families. Near the 200-acre AIIMS site is our trapezoidal site with an area
of 4 acres - 16, 180 sq m.

To make transportation easier, the site connects to a 24 m wide national

highway and a 16 m wide side road. The side facing the highway has the
largest dimension- 184 m.

SHERYL:

{About the surrounding context: The neighbourhood is a developing area.

 5

In the northeastern part of the site, is the PTR engineering college. On the
western side of the site, there is the VIP city - AIIMS township which is
under construction. The area spread behind the whole site is for the
Thoppur housing board. Near the site, there is the Austin Patti police
station and a Pillayar temple. The collector office bus stop is the nearest to
the site.}

Our Multispeciality hospital is designed to provide asylum for patients

and treat them in 10 specialities. Spread over an area of 6,500 sq m with a
permissible height of 20 m, the 5 floor-ed building will accommodate 150
beds.

Surface parking for 200 cars will be allowed.

The doctors’ residential quarters extend around an area of 1,045 sq m.

which can accommodate around 100 doctors and hospital staff.

Analyzing the design from the user’s perspective is an important aspect.

Taking that into account, we have studied the users of the hospital
environment as Neena elaborates,

NEENA: USERS
I’ll explain each user and features that could benefit them
respectively.

● DOCTORS
● NURSES
● STAFFS
● JANITORS
● PATIENTS
● VISITORS

Doctors and Nurses are the heroes of the field. The way outdoor
views positively influence and improve patient health, a healthy and
 6

green environment can improve doctors’ and nurses’ quality of work

and keep them focused in good spirits. Exclusive lounges and
alcoves for nurses and doctor cabins with views focusing on outdoor
greenery will create an atmosphere of comfort.

Hospital staff include the receptionists, janitors, gardeners, cooks and

caretakers who work towards creating a healthy, sanitized environment,
which is required to maintain the green aesthetic around the healing
village and to avoid the unwanted spread of diseases within the
hospital. They would appreciate personal breakout spaces and
comfortable accommodation.

The design has to be patient-centric. A therapeutic environment that

nurtures the patient with positive views from their beds should be
designed. An Open, green environment for physiotherapy can be
provided. We believe that nature blended in with the healing environment
of the hospital would improve the confidence of the patients and give them
comfort. Strategic signages in different parts of the hospital will allow
circulation to function properly and save manpower as well.

Visitors are an important part of the recovery process as they help patients
to recover faster. So privacy for patients and their families, with proper
food and stay arrangements should be provided for caretakers who would
be staying with the patients.

Gathering all this data, we have planned our theme.

HEALING VILLAGE - OUR CONCEPT

SHERYL:
OUR DESIGN ORIGINATES FROM A HEALING VILLAGE CONCEPT WITH A SERIES
OF MULTI-STORY BUILDINGS PROVIDING SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS FOR PATIENT
CARE SURROUNDING A CENTRAL, OUTDOOR COURTYARD AND
METAPHORICAL “ COMMUNITY GREEN GARDEN''.
 7

The goals we have envisioned:

GOALS (VISION)

MOKSHITHA:
● creating a sustainable, multifunctional and flexible design,
● a separate identity for the infused “Helen garden” courtyard,
● vehicular access with a clear connection to the hospital, thus a prominent
entrance
● A complete central atrium system is to be aimed at providing a soothing
and contemplative feel.
NEENA:

● Visual scenery and green aesthetics along with ample natural light can be
provided for the rooms inside, seating areas and habitat for birds and
butterflies.
● Open lawn areas can be used for special events, a variety of fitness classes
and physiotherapy sessions.
● The design has to be inviting to the rural public.
● Improving the quality of healthcare in the conservative Thoppur
community is our ultimate vision.

OUR DESIGN
MOKSHITHA: THE HOSPITAL
Following our concept, the hospital is built around a central open
courtyard - the Helen garden. This atrium is the main source of natural
light as it lits up the interiors of the hospital. The hospital is spread on a
ground coverage area of 3, 600 sq m.

We would like to elaborate on the features implemented in our hospital:

● Jalli wall facades for the exteriors constitute the minimalistic outer
shell of the building.
● Throughout the design, we have hinted at our desire to utilise nature
for healing. Physiotherapy spaces are planned outside the enclosed
building structure.
 8

● Exclusive alcove spaces for on-duty nurses and doctors have been
planned in inpatient wards.

-( not complete)-

SHERYL: THE RESIDENCE

As mentioned earlier, for doctors and nurses to
work to their full potential and treat patients
with calmness and a proper state of mind, we
have designed a calm and tidy environment.
This residence design aims at providing the
doctors with comfortable accommodations. In
an area of 1045 sq m, the residence takes up a
square region at the top right side of the
hospital block. The residence has a mess and
recreation lounge for the professionals on the
ground floor. Separate dormitories and floors
are given for men and women on the first and
second floors. On the fourth and fifth floors
sophisticated 2 bhk and 3 bhk houses are
arranged for doctors with families.
- ( not complete)-
 9

NEENA: LANDSCAPE
Surrounding the hospital and residence blocks
are lush green lawns and open spaces which are
implemented to suit the organic aesthetic of the
healing village.
( Not complete )

MOKSHITHA : CONCLUSION
Our solution to solve the current problems of
healthcare facilities is to integrate organic
elements in our design. And we have achieved
our goals by introducing these various elements
and structures in the design and are assured
that our Helen’s village would be the perfect
healing community for the society.