SUPER GREEN - the International Academy of Design and Health

Market Report: Eastern Europeis targeted at “the inhabitants of Warsaw andother insured customers”. Nightingale’s healthdevelopment director Kieren Morgan said thebuilding is designed to be noninstitutional, incontrast with existing state provision. Medicoverwanted the hospital to provide a welcomingatmosphere and exude clinical excellence. Thedesign also had to incorporate fl exibility to allowfor eventual expansion.Polish architectural fi rm Atelier 7 took overthe technical design of the project to ensure thatit met local regulations – it was a requirement ofthe Polish government that a local fi rm becomethe ‘legal author’ of the development.Hospital wards in Poland, Morgan said, areoften self-contained entities, each with its ownfacilities. The Medicover hospital, however, will bestructured more around international models,with a separate operating theatre departmentand diagnostics that cater to the whole hospital rather than an individual ward.The Swissmed general hospital in Gdansk is another response to the perceivedneed for private healthcare. Designed by WGI Architects, the 75-bed hospital willcater mainly for international companies who provide private health insurancefor their employees. The design includes natural light and healing gardens,incorporating many of the values of evidence-based design – a movement thathas yet to take a real hold in countries with emerging economies like Polandwhere trying to fi nd ways to fi x basic infrastructure and crumbling architectureon very limited budgets is more of a priority.The Gdansk facility was constructed before Poland’s accession to the EuropeanUnion (EU), opening in January 2004, and WGI is now designing two further hospitals for Swissmed – one, a larger modern hospital inBratslav and the other in Warsaw.WGI partner Chris Pye said the design had to include enough space in patientrooms for visits by relatives and extended family, as well as the development ofmixed-use hotel-type accommodation adjacent to the hospital that could beused by patients’ families and by passing trade.State hospitals, Pye said, are often impoverished and crumbling, badly inneed of repair. At the same time, there is a growing middle class in the countrywho are willing to pay for a higher level of care and access to better facilities.Russian regulationsIt is a similar situation in Russia, where the private sector has also begun totake hold. However, the process of complying with regulations, especially forprojects that move beyond the traditional, can mean projects are delayed,often for extended periods of time. And for non-Russian architectural fi rmsand other companies wanting to design and build facilities that go beyond thenorm, it can be a steep learning curve.Up to now, much private sector development has focused on smallprivate clinics retro-fi tted into existing buildings. But a number of commercialdevelopers are planning more ambitious projects, large hospitals that will offera full range of care.When planning fi rst began for CMI Development’sThe 16, 631sqm MedicoverHospital in Warsaw bringsUK and Polish designstandards together in amodern facilityMoscow Medical CenterProject Cost: $95mConstruction Cost: $75mClient: CMI DevelopmentArchitect: NBBJ (Columbus, Ohio offi ce)Structural Engineer: Korda NemethLandscape Architect: NBBJMoscow Medical Center, the aim was to become thefi rst ‘western-style’ hospital in the country. The standalonefacility was designed by NBBJ Architects in Columbus,Ohio who began working on the project in 2002.Architect Tim Fishking said one of the main challengesWORLD HEALTH DESIGN | October 2008 31