Gold Architecture, Building and Structure Design · 2024
Almana Hospital
- A' Design Award 2024 Gold Winner in Architecture, Building and Structure Design
- Awarded April 15, 2024
- CLIENT: Almana Group
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 93,401
- Verification code 972835F173 · Verify this award
About Almana Hospital
The gentle curves of the building allowing for the natural flow of space, air and light. The design combines advanced practices for lighting, day-lighting, HVAC and water treatment systems that use significantly less energy while performing at or above current health standards, with a target of at least 50 percent energy reduction compared to similar facilities. The undulating landscape form and building envelope provide a great healing connection to nature, inside and out, not only from patient, staff and visitor aspects, but from a sustainability aspect.
Almana Hospital by Muhammed El Sepaey represents a distinguished contribution to contemporary healthcare architecture, one that synthesizes functional imperatives with expressive formal language to create an institutional presence that speaks simultaneously of medical excellence and human care. The design engages with longstanding traditions of curative architecture while advancing a distinctly contemporary vocabulary, its sweeping curvilinear forms perhaps evoking the organic fluidity associated with healing and growth. The façade treatment demonstrates remarkable compositional sophistication, with horizontal bands of turquoise-tinted glazing creating visual rhythm and establishing a sense of continuous movement that counters the potential severity of institutional scale. The integration of the cylindrical emergency tower, crowned by its clearly articulated helipad, speaks to the critical life-saving functions housed within while contributing to a varied and dynamic skyline silhouette. One observes the careful attention to material transitions, where the cool luminosity of glass meets the warm solidity of rendered surfaces, creating textural dialogue that rewards sustained visual attention. The captured moment of twilight transition proves particularly evocative, situating the architectural intervention within the diurnal poetry of light that characterizes the region's atmospheric character. The warm interior illumination emanating from numerous windows suggests the continuous human activity within, the around-the-clock vigilance that defines healthcare provision. This work invites contemplation of how architectural form might embody institutional values, how the physical envelope of a healing environment might itself contribute to the psychological comfort of patients, families, and caregiving professionals who occupy its spaces.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Well-designed healthcare environments can reduce patients’ anxiety and stress, accelerate recovery, shorten hospitalizations, reduce medication use, lessen pain, and promote a sense of well-being. On the organizational level, therapeutic environments can help enhancing staff recruitment, satisfaction, productivity and retention. In addition, The physical setting is the patient's first impression of a healthcare facility.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- General Hospital
7 floors
65 000 m2
200 beds | 75 clinics | 600 cars - Tags
- Healthcare Design, Healing environment, Hospital
- Production Technology
- The design was based on natural light and natural materials. High performance glazing system was chosen for elevations and skylight to get the most healthy use of daylight. ACP Panels was chosen for exterior cladding.
- Design Challenge
- The real challenge was how to adapt the design to create a healing environment that in turn reduces patients' anxiety and stress, speeds recovery, shortens hospitalization, reduces medication use, reduces pain, and promotes well-being. At the organizational level, healing environments can help enhance employee recruitment, satisfaction, productivity, and retention.
- Project Duration
- Dammam, Saudi Arabia
2018 -2023 - Operation Flow
- The design creates a clear separation of zones of activities, with departments and functions located based on access point proximity, flow and way-finding. Design of building is modular so there is ease of understanding, movement and fining the required section.
- Research
- Flexible and adaptable
clear functional zoning, segregate internal user and logistic flows, size rooms for flexible usage, staff and patient entrances.
Operationally efficient
lean design, modular arrangements, design repetition, smaller facilities, cost effective aiming for, streamlined service, faster response times, improved outcomes, improved patient turnover.
Safety by design
nothing touches the floor, integrated, touch technology, surface minimization, seamless wall finish systems ,ease to clean surfaces, disinfection.
Patient centric healing environment
large open space concourses, natural light and space lifts the mood, flexibility for peak capacity. - Inspiration
- The gentle curves of the building allowing for the natural flow of space, air and light. The design combines advanced practices for lighting, day-lighting, and water treatment systems that use significantly less energy while performing at or above current health standards, with a target of at least 50 percent energy reduction compared to similar facilities.
The undulating landscape form and building envelope provide a great healing connection to nature, inside and out, not only from patient, staff and visitor aspects, but from a sustainability aspect. The design creates a clear separation of zones of activities, with departments and functions located based on access point proximity, flow and way-finding. All patient rooms and staff spaces provide access to outside views and landscaped terraces.
The design melded spaces and forms into continuous, dynamic constructions. Moreover, it furthered the approach by weaving curved walkways and vertical elevators together so that the architecture itself guides visitors through the related departments - Image Credits
- Image #1: Photographer Alwaleed Fazee, Perspective, 2023
Image #2: Photographer Alwaleed Fazee, Perspective, 2023
Image #3: Photographer Alwaleed Fazee, Perspective, 2023
Image #4: Photographer Alwaleed Fazee, Perspective, 2023
Image #5: Photographer Alwaleed Fazee, Perspective, 2023
Video Credits: Alwaleed Fazee, 2023 - Patents
- Muhammed El Sepaey, 2023
Colors of Almana Hospital
Get Almana Hospital
Healthcare Architecture & Healing Environment Design
We specialize in human-centric healthcare facilities that accelerate patient recovery through therapeutic design. Our award-winning approach integrates natural light, intuitive wayfinding, and healing environments that enhance both patient outcomes and staff satisfaction.
G0E3 Shop