In the context of rapidly advancing medical innovation, a rethink of the hospital becomes an urgent priority. The Al Daayan Health District presents the perfect opportunity. Located on a 1.3-million-sqm virgin site between Qatar University and the new Lusail City, it offers the possibility for a new symbiosis between architecture and medical science.
A tertiary teaching hospital, a women’s and children’s hospital and an ambulatory diagnostics center, with a total capacity of 1,400 beds are joined into a single structure. Clinical facilities occupy the first floor; bed wards are located on the ground floor, reducing the dependency on elevators and allowing patients to enjoy the complex’s generous gardens – healing spaces with a long history in Islamic medical architecture.
Cross-shaped modular units, prefabricated onsite, can be reconfigured and expanded with minimal disruption to ongoing processes, significantly lowering the cost of future adaptations. 3D-printing allows for endless variations in the design of the facades, reintroducing ornament in an architectural typology usually characterized by austerity. A high-tech farm supplies food and medical plants for the local production of medicine. All supporting facilities are connected to the hospitals by an automated underground circulation system. A dedicated logistics center and solar farm enable the district to function autonomously.
The Al Daayan Health District was commissioned by Hamad Medical Corporation, Qatar’s premier not-for-profit healthcare provider. Buildable at low cost, with minimum reliance on global supply chains, it aims to establish itself as a prototype which can be adopted globally – an alternative to prevailing hospital models developed in the West.
Project Team:
Partner in Charge: Reinier de Graaf
Project Architect: Kaveh Dabiri
Project Manager: Alex De Jong
Team: Pablo Antuna Molina / Claudio Araya / Bozar Ben-Zeev / Joana Cidade /
Benedetta Gatti / Eve Hocheng / Sofia Hosszufalussy / Hanna Jankowska/ Tijmen
Klone/ Marina Kounavi / Hans Larsson / Roza Matveeva / Geert Reitsma /
Alex Retegan / Silvia Sandor / Elisa Versari / Arthur Wong
Collaborators:
Masterplan Engineering: BuroHappold
Landscape Architect: Michel Desvigne Paysagiste
Clinical Architect: Henning Larsen Architects
Healthcare Planning: ETL
Wayfinding: Spaceagency
Cost Adviser: De Leeuw Group
Stakeholder Management: Engineering Consultants Group
