U.S.-based SmithGroup has designed the Dhaka Apollo Hospital to respond to the cultural, social, and spiritual traditions of Bangladesh, while incorporating state-of-the-art western medical technology. The hospital is intended to be recognizable as a world-class facility and a symbol for the future of Bangladesh.

 

The 334,000-square-foot, 330-bed facility is divided into three basic building components: the outpatient clinical building, the main hospital, and the service building. Separating the outpatient clinic from the main hospital creates a public plaza as a gathering area for the large numbers of visitors. It also separates the inpatient hospital from heavy daytime outpatient traffic to the clinics, and allows specialty clinic services to be placed adjacent to the corresponding floors of the diagnostic and treatment area in the main hospital block.

 

The three-component design, necessary for the efficient everyday function of the hospital, is overlaid by the four-quadrant approach of Vastu, a system of design closely tied to the spiritual beliefs of Hinduism. (Though 87% of Bangladeshis are Muslim, Hindu beliefs and cultural norms are common in public spaces.) Each quadrant refers to one basic element, Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, each of which carries its own influence over both the interior and exterior design. For example, the Air quadrant, in the northwest, is best suited for landscaping. The Water quadrant should incorporate a water feature.

 

The open-air plaza fronting the main entrance represents Space, the fifth element of Vastu. Located at the terminus of the entrance sequence are a grand canopy and a series of monumental steps leading to the glazed pedestrian arcade. This is where families and groups of well-wishers – who can number as many as a dozen per patient at Bangladesh hospitals – can gather, making the plaza a grand public space located at the heart of the project in celebration of humanity.

 

Vastu also influences the site shape (which should be square or rectangle), and the alignment of the site according to cardinal directions. The land should be elevated toward to south and west sides, and lower on the north and east sides.

 

Patient suites feature balconies and terraces, which bring the natural environment in and open vistas out to the green fields sweeping the horizon. Connecting the two patient wings is a centrally located glazed circulation element. This curving form provides views to the landscape, while serving as a recognizable building image for arriving visitors.

 

Members of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd. are associate architects on the project, which is scheduled for competition in December 2004.

 

SmithGroup, Inc. ranks as the nation’s 5^th largest architecture, engineering, and planning firm and employs 1,000. It is composed of client industry-focused Solution Groups serving the health care, education, workplace, technologies, research, and government sectors. The firm has offices in Ann Arbor, MI; Chicago; Detroit; Los Angeles; Madison, WI; Phoenix; San Francisco; and Washington, D.C. Founded in 1853, SmithGroup will celebrate its 150^th anniversary in 2003, and is the oldest operating A/E in the U.S.