Today, vast health networks sprawl across cities and regions, serving as engines of employment and economic growth. Hospital design must account for complex equipment, disaster-safe infrastructure, flexible use, future growth, and the daily flow of patients, families, and workers.
Content from the exhibition Design and Healing: Creative Responses to Epidemics, curated by MASS Design Group and Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
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McMaster University Health Sciences Center, Ontario, Canada, 1972
Ontario’s McMaster University Health Sciences Center was designed by systems engineer Eberhard Zeidler (German-Canadian, b. 1926). McMaster’s modular, flexible design has the potential to extend horizontally and vertically over time. Service floors devoted to ventilation, wiring, and lighting run between the main floors.
Photograph: Craig, Zeidler, and Strong
Photograph: Craig, Zeidler, and Strong
Photograph: Craig, Zeidler, and Strong
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Samajik Health Science Institute and Research Centre, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2021
Located in Bangladesh’s capital city, the Samajik Health Science Institute and Research Centre will be the hub of a country-wide health network. This 500-bed hospital, medical school, and research center will provide health care for all, regardless of ability to pay. The design balances the demands of a hot, humid climate with the health benefits of natural ventilation. Patient wards are equipped with covered outdoor terraces, operable windows, and solar chimneys that will reduce carbon emissions by half.
Rendering, Samajik Hospital, Dakha, Bangladesh, 2021; MASS Design Group (Boston, Massachusetts, USA, founded 2008); Client: Grameen Telecom Trust, Grameen Kalyan; Medical Planning: Stantec; Local Architect: Design Lab Architects; Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing and Civil Engineering: Arup; Structural Engineering: MASS & Arup; Sustainability & Environmental Engineering: Transsolar
Rendering, Samajik Hospital, Dakha, Bangladesh, 2021; MASS Design Group (Boston, Massachusetts, USA, founded 2008); Client: Grameen Telecom Trust, Grameen Kalyan; Medical Planning: Stantec; Local Architect: Design Lab Architects; Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing and Civil Engineering: Arup; Structural Engineering: MASS & Arup; Sustainability & Environmental Engineering: Transsolar
Rendering, Samajik Hospital, Dakha, Bangladesh, 2021; MASS Design Group (Boston, Massachusetts, USA, founded 2008); Client: Grameen Telecom Trust, Grameen Kalyan; Medical Planning: Stantec; Local Architect: Design Lab Architects; Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing and Civil Engineering: Arup; Structural Engineering: MASS & Arup; Sustainability & Environmental Engineering: Transsolar
Model, Samajik Hospital, Dakha, Bangladesh, 2021; MASS Design Group (Boston, Massachusetts, USA, founded 2008); Model by GPI Models; Plastic modeling board, acrylic, wood veneer; Courtesy of MASS Design Group
