Abu Dhabi: Getting healthier

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US-based design firm Burt Hill, is designing the new US $871 million (AED3.2 billion) Mafraq Hospital in Abu Dhabi. The firm’s UAE director of healthcare Norman Soto talks, exclusively, to Construction Week about it.

So why Abu Dhabi?

Mafraq Hospital is the vision of Seha, the organisation behind the development. The client has the community in mind and the hospital is part of the major plan for Abu Dhabi. Seha aims to provide the best of healthcare for the community and part of their vision was to build hospitals in strategic locations and Mafraq is one of those strategic locations. Burt Hill was invited to provide a concept design for Mafraq and we were more than happy to take on the job.

Is healthcare a focus for Burt Hill?

We have over a 100 healthcare clients on a worldwide basis. Healthcare is definitely one of our focus areas. But we also do infrastructure planning and master planning, architecture, interior design and engineering; the only thing we don’t do is build. We’re not a contractor. We’re a whole design firm.

How many healthcare jobs have you done in the region?

We have designed four hospitals over the last four years. But you must remember hospitals are not like commercial buildings, they have very special requirements that have to be paid extra attention to, so it takes up more resources and time to build hospitals. And this is where our expertise comes in.

Has anyone been lined up to actually build the Hospital?

The process is a very normal one. At the moment, in the UAE, as a result of the economic downturn, there are a lot of contractors and contract types available, so we have a good opportunity to select the best contractors. We have not selected them yet as we are still in the process of completing the design. After that we will do the procurement and select the contractor.

Has a timeline been drawn up?

It will take till the end of the year before the contract is awarded, and we’re hoping to start construction in the beginning of next year. It will take three years to build and it will be fully operational by 2013.

Will you break down the exisiting Mafraq Hospital for the new one?

No, we’ll build the hospital first and then we will see what happens to the existing building. It’s on the same site close to the old one but it will not replace the existing building. The existing one will keep on functioning for the next five years until the new one becomes operational.

And is the new one considerably bigger than the old one?

It is, yes. I would say about twice the size. The old hospital caters to about 400 beds, the new one will have up to 745 beds.

Has sustainability created any challenges in design?

Burt Hill always designs with sustainability in mind. Any buildings we do, we always involve the concept of sustainability and conservation, no matter what. Whether it’s Leed or any other programme that is imposed on us, our buildings by design, already incorporate the majority of sustainability issues. With this hospital in particular we added a little bit more; we had the opportunity to situate the hospital in the right location and utilise the hospital for best energy conservation. It hasn’t been a challenge as such.

So is it Leed certified?

It is at the moment. It should be under the Estidama, which is Abu Dhabi’s version of the Leed equivalent. But at this stage, the hospitals are exempt from being part of the program and so what we did is, we applied our own standards so that in the future if it does come under any regulation, it would still qualify as a leed silver or Estidama’s 3-Pearl certification.

What’s the reason behind hospitals not having to comply?

Because Estidama is an Abu Dhabi-based pilot programme at the moment and it is still new; they’re incorporating various elements from Leed or the Australian Green Star to make the new Estidama. Hospitals are very complex to certify but otherwise we initially started with a Leed program and maybe add a silver certification.

Will you expand to other GCC areas?

We’re looking at the entire Mena region. We’re seeing a lot of interest. We’ve been approached by many countries in the GCC for work including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Syria and Iran.

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