In the context of Alibaug & Dolvi village, where large overhangs & sloping roofs protect against the intense monsoon, where outdoor spaces like courtyards, verandahs & balconies are widely used in this sea-side climate; using natural Light & ventilation, expressing compassion, wellness & beauty, is a 73 bedded Rural Community hospital (expandable to 125 beds) built for the people of this region, over phases on a 5 acre land, off the Mumbai-Goa highway.

The design of this G+2 hospital is planned around 3 lush courtyards that act as a relief or “point of pause” both architecturally & to allow Patient waiting, interaction & wellness. The main North entrance overlooks the Central Court that is punctuated with a central staircase, suffused with light and is adequately sized with wide passages on either side, allowing a lot of waiting areas that in-turn overlook the West Café Court and the East Diagnostics court. The Main entrance lobby is completely free and calm of any actions expected in a hospital, with only an information kiosk and the registration & waiting is all tucked inwards overlooking the West court, this in a way allows an inviting & welcoming entrance area that guides patients and family through various signages to help orient oneself & access various departments. Waiting areas for all critical & non-critical zones are most often, skirted around the corridors that run along the courtyard and at times these bubble into the courtyard like jharokhas/balconies.

A continuous balcony runs along the 2nd floor North and South faces & intermittently at 1st floor level, to in-turn act as deep overhangs for lower floors in this intense sea side climate that receives a lot of rain. Deep overhangs & sloping roofs respond well in this seaside climate, as well as bringing in warmth and a humane scale to a rural multi-speciality hospital that is earthy & rooted.

The connections that we make with the outdoors govern our paths navigated through a building. Clear direction and distinct adjacencies in zoning and circulation for staff, patients and their family have been key in ensuring that even through times of distress, the hospital and its created bio-diverse micro-climate enables a calm and healing environment that allows for clarity of thought and actions to negotiate through space, and establish a recognizable personal setting that is fundamental in patient recovery.

Unlike urban hospitals, our attempt has been to naturally ventilate most of the clinical spaces such as In Patient rooms, wards & wide corridors to avoid patients and healthcare providers being subjected to the high risk of contracting airborne diseases in closed door spaces. Air conditioning has been strictly limited to critical clinical spaces keeping in mind least possibility of infection transfer. Smooth and calm recuperation has been at the heart of designing spaces such as balconies along patient rooms and wards thus enabling their path to recovery through safe engagements with movements like walking and sitting along these balconies. These also create possibilities for interactions and communications amongst patients thus speeding their path to recovery.

Over & above patient friendly spaces, the planning focuses on the hospital staff being able to avail ample break out spaces such as balconies, terraces and courtyard to de-stress with a birdsong or watch the sun set!

Details of Construction Materials :

RCC framed structure with a piled foundation & aerated concrete block masonry as external and internal walls. Pitched roof in M.S structural steel sections with mangalore tile- profiled metal roof. Cantilevered balcony slabs have been structurally counter balanced by suspending them from the pitched metal roofing framework.

Special Features :

Gold limestone as flooring across all circulation ( non clinical ) areas tie into a visually strong, warm and clearly perceivable connections to smoothly navigate through the building with utmost clarity. Nature/Vegetation/Greenery are synonymous with healing and that has been the main motto of this building: to create connections with people and nature. This thought has been extended into the art program integrated within the building using the tribal Gond & Kalamkari art that depicts nature at its best! Rain water incident on the hardscaped areas and terraces have been augmented into a storage tanks connected back into the water supply loop for flushing and irrigation. Slag as a by product and waste generated through the process of steel production has been used in plinth filling thus saving soil!