Al Mafraq Hospital

Abu Dhabi, UAE

World-class Healthcare Design Aligning with Abu Dhabi’s Global Vision

Master Plan Abu Dhabi 2030 is driven by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi's Emir's grand vision for the city to develop as a global capital. This plan divides Abu Dhabi into districts of which the core Capital District is the location for this 750 bed hospital campus. Efficiently connected to the rest of the districts by road as well as rail, this site is planned to accommodate a large housing zone and an office park along with several civic amenities over and above the redeveloped Al Mafraq Hospital. Thus envisioned as part of a grand development plan, the hospital campus, too, is expected to deliver healthcare that is at a large scale, technologically advanced, with superlatively sustainable systems and covering the entire range of medical care categories.

Builtup Area: 26,50,000 SF
Services : Master planning, Architecture, Interior Design, Landscape Design, MEPF Engineering, Healthcare Planning, Sustainability
Collaboration : Burt Hill (Jayesh Hariyani while Director at Burt Hill)

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This design for the Al Mafraq Hospital is assigned an expansive 30 Ha at the south-eastern side of the plot, where its posterior block of four towers along with a mid-rise frontal block fan out symmetrically about the east-west axis. The massive built form spreads out elegantly amidst a beautifully landscaped site, offering efficient access to every department of healthcare to people from all over UAE as well as the world.

Clear Functional Zones, Segregated Yet Cohesively Integrated

While the frontal midrise block of the hospital has the out-patient clinics, the four towers rising from the rear block constitute in-patient health-care facilities for every department ranging from maternity to trauma, orthopedics to oncology, and diagnostics to rehabilitation. An elaborately detailed drive-way and drop-off plaza thread through the complex between the front and rear blocks, making the layout explicitly clear, functionally efficient and easy to navigate for all stakeholders.

The grand reception lobby is accessorized with a waiting lounge designed to accommodate a huge number of visitors at a time, from where a clearly resolved concourse helps them navigate their way to various departments and facilities. Hospital rooms and suites have been designed to cater to requirements of a range of patients from commoners to royalty, and localities to international citizens. Two levels of basement offer ample parking spaces for staff and visitors alike, while support and MEP services are housed in service floors at the basement, podium top and tower top floors.

Wadi-Style Landscape Design Strengthens Ecological Integration

The Al Mafraq hospital sits in a landscape designed in the Wadi style, i.e. like a naturally occurring fluvial river-basin geology that is often found in desert regions. Accordingly chosen plantations require lesser amounts of water to survive and the gravely, sandy soft and hardscapes are hardy enough to withstand the desert climate and sustain their ecosystem perpetually without significant external inputs.

Best Sustainable Healthcare Design for Harsh Climate

The climate-responsive design of the three-layered fenestration and façade system responds to Abu Dhabi’s harsh desert climate to create a comfortable and conducive working & healing environment within the building. A well-calibrated shading system ensures glare-free natural lighting and multiple layers in combination with low-E glazing cut the harsh heat at all times of the day.

All measures for green systems including water, energy and waste efficiency have been incorporated and a Building Management System is used to ensure sustainability during construction as well as projected years of use of the building which has been awarded the highest ranked platinum sustainability rating.