New York, New York, USA – On May 23 2023, Perkins Eastman joined Zhongda International Group to break ground on a new international hospital in Xi’an, China.
The new 500-bed Xi’an Zhongda International Hospital is set to reimagine healthcare for the region. Situated in the Qujiang New District, southeast of the ancient city of Xi’an, a city celebrated for its rich heritage dating from the Han and Tang Dynasties, the design of the hospital gracefully reflects the city’s cultural and historical context, while delivering an advanced medical facility for the historic city.
Located in the city’s heritage protection zone, the project had to meet stringent height, massing, and design guidelines. Rather than seeing these guidelines as limitations, however, the team saw them as a source of inspiration, and used them as a catalyst for a sensitive modern design, rooted in its immediate historic context and based on traditional architectural principles. The design delivers a contemporary patient-centered hospital, a humane architecture that weaves together clinical spaces and restorative landscaped courtyards, a blend of nature, architecture and medicine, that redefines the typical hospital experience.
Based on principles that distill and integrate both the fundamentals of the Han architecture and modern healthcare design, the resulting medical complex is shaped around a series of nine landscaped courtyards that create a contemplative and therapeutic environment for patients, their caregivers, and families.
Prioritizing access to daylight and nature throughout the large facility enhances the well-being of the patient and caregivers. The building is meticulously crafted to a human scale ensuring that the experience is more welcoming and less intimidating than one might expect in a large hospital.
The overall arrangement and proportions of the building’s forms are designed to scale down the bulk of the hospital so the building nestles into its surroundings which are planned as a healing landscape, with footpaths throughout the campus. Cars and service vehicles are restricted to the perimeter of the site and are directed to basement areas to maximize the amount of accessible landscaped open space around the building. The interlocking nature of the planning between building forms and courtyards suggested the motif of a Chinese seal, an important cultural symbol in China, and this became one lens through which to describe the design.
To support the delivering high quality healthcare services the team used advanced medical planning concepts such as modular design, thereby allowing ample flexibility for the hospital to adapt to future changes. The compact and efficient layout is achieved through the vertical stacking of outpatient, diagnostic and treatment, and inpatient areas.
Operated by BOE Healthcare, a nationwide healthcare system headquartered in Beijing, this hospital will offer a comprehensive medical service system that encompasses prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation. The services will be offered through online platforms, outpatient clinics, and a fully-equipped hospital, providing a complete and holistic approach to healthcare. As a benchmark for high-end private hospitals, Xi’an Zhongda International Hospital is dedicated to providing quality healthcare services for families in Xi’an and the northwest region of China.
The 129,000 square metres facility is a result of the visionary partnership between Perkins Eastman, the Zhongda International Group, and the BOE Technology Group.
Construction is expected to be completed in 2025.
