Healthcare Design - August 2021 - 49

while still maintaining maximum distance from
the roads. This configuration elevates the ambience
on the campus and establishes privacy
from the surrounding community so the new
medical campus is a beneficial landscape rather
than a towering building that obstructs views.
The building evolved into the series of lowrise
buildings not only to follow the city guideline
but also to maximize a common sight line
throughout the city and its surroundings.
How did the shape of the Osmanthus flower
inform the design?
The building shapes are inspired by the Osmanthus flower, the city's representative
flower. By making a series of gardens, the whole campus becomes
one of the most beautiful landscapes in the city. The symbolism of
the Osmanthus flower is dispersed throughout the buildings and connects
visitors with the local culture and provides a sense of familiarity and belonging.
Integrating images of nature also helps patients and visitors remain
connected to the unique and iconic natural surroundings of Guilin.
At the center of each center of excellence, or petal, is an open courtyard
that brings daylight down through every level, including the bottom parking
level, made possible because the building is low rise.
The above-outlined solutions not only fit the program on the site
but help break down its massive scale. How did your team think
through the human element of approaching such a large campus?
The series of courtyards at the center of each building have a different
elemental theme: water, fire, wood, metal, and earth. This organizes the
campus by theme, color, and landscape design, including art sculptures
for each building. These become focal points for wayfinding and carry the
patient through their journey while connecting them to the natural environment.
Additionally, glass [building] podiums create transparency
throughout the campus to enhance the human experience with views,
light, and connection to nature.
ABOVE: The shape of
the project's low-rise
buildings are inspired
by the local Osmanthus
flower. BELOW:
The campus is organized
into multiple
centers of excellence,
including intensive
medicine, internal
medicine, obstetrics
and gynecology, a
surgical center, and
tumor center. Each is
distinguished by distinct
drop-off points
and branding.
How were you able to achieve generous access
to outdoor spaces, daylighting, and views,
given how much had to be fit on the site?
The limitations and challenges were very
clear, but our concept of " Garden in Garden "
was also based on these challenges. With a
solid concept as its base, the entire planning
and design process could naturally develop,
evolve, and integrate with several measures
such as sustainability, community, and wellness
impacts.
Atop each center of excellence is a roof garden.
Recessed medical floors enhance the
building's flower-like shape. Patients and staff
coming up or down from the inpatient tower to
these transitional floors have access to the roof
gardens, sunken gardens, and courtyards to
move throughout the campus and experience
its garden-natured design, both between and
within the buildings.
Our jury applauded the success of the vertical
and horizontal stacking in your planning.
What were keys to your approach?
There are a couple of key elements to solving the
puzzle: (1) The circulation organization and zoning
division are based on different users' needs
and behaviors, avoiding unnecessary crossovers
and keeping the circulation as efficient as possible;
(2) Integrating and classifying specific
disciplines/departments that have similar functions
or are closely related to each other was
important, and it improves staff work efficiency
and minimizes the patient travel distance; and
(3) Large-scale shared medical technology has
been centralized so that each specialty can easily
get access to diagnostics and treatment, which
makes treatment more efficient.
For more on this project, see page 64. 
Jennifer Kovacs is editor-in-chief of Healthcare Design.
She can be reached at JENNIFER.SILVIS@
EMERALDX.COM.
AU GUST 2021
49
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