The Design The 29,000m 2 hospital includes seven floors : the hospital plant room , three clinical and consulting levels and three parking levels with 335 secure parking bays , linking directly to Menlyn Maine Central Square with another 1,300 parking bays .
With the site footprint fully utilised and enclosed on 3 sides , the design raised the hospital above the required parking areas . Green walls surround the parking from the ground up and float the hospital on ‘ green lungs ’. This allows clinical areas on upper levels to have access to natural lighting from north and south aspects .
Central to the architectural design is the visual link to nature from internal and street facing areas of the hospital . This is achieved by the main reception and all clinical areas facing two large atriums at the centre of the hospital , allowing visitors , patients and medical professionals to be welcomed within a space where nature is appreciated and aids in recovery .
The continuation of landscaping from the ground floor through to the Level 4 and Level 7 gardens plays a critical role in providing the majority of the wards and consulting areas with a view and access to nature . While the site area is 100 % utilised and surrounded on three sides by a densely built-up precinct , there is a visual connection with nature from the approach to a vast majority of the occupied spaces , with a view to elements of nature , living systems and natural processes , both internally and facing out towards the north , east and west aspects .
Integrating aesthetically pleasing elements into a space can help building occupants derive a measure of comfort or joy from their surroundings . Creating the space in alignment with Greenstar standards that uplift the environment was the ultimate goal .
Achieving this goal in a hospital is considerably more complex than any other building type . Detailing played a critical role in successfully merging a hi-tech look and feel of the hospital with the hospital-specific surgical and sterile requirements of such a facility . The design had to factor in the custom Greenstar tool into an already complex equation between function , form and service .
Cintocare Hospital 19