Project details:
Project name: Sanjeevani Rural Multispeciality Hospital
Studio: SJK Architects
Client: JSW Steel Ltd
Area: 1,30,000 Sq. ft
Location: Alibaug, Maharashtra
Status: Completed
Team: Shimul Javeri Kadri, Sarika Shetty, Sapna Rohra, Harshini Yohee, Bhavin Patel, Rishit Jain
Sanjeevani by JSW is a rural multispeciality hospital made in a tiny municipality in western Maharashtra, Dolvi, situated slightly to the west of the town of Pen, right near the delta of the Amba river. JSW plant in Dolvi provides several industries, including automotive, projects and construction, machinery, LPG cylinder-makers, cold rollers, oil and gas sector, and consumer durables. The hospital was an initiative by them to cater betterment of the health of the people of the town amidst the unhygienic environment.
Hospitals are conceived as a set of spaces that aim to give healthy experiences rather than a space containing health. It ought to have a healing and spirited spree in its highly practical and functional environment as the hospital generates a certain emotional climate and a special cultural ambience, with sacred valences for most outsiders.
The Sjk architects came up with a very potential proposal to nestle the hospital amid trees and greenery for people to recover and nurture each other because usually, according to Sjk, hospitals have never been pleasant or attractive, particularly fear-based white and sterile spaces that do not speak to the most powerful part of us, our minds and our emotions. They have managed to blend the appropriate climatic and cultural aspects to the rural community and made the hospital easily accessible for them.
The founder of Sjk Architect, Architect Shimul Javeri Kadri, believes in the philosophy of building in harmony with nature using natural materials, sunlight, and wind and considering the cultural background. Her ideology of Architecture portrays through the collaboration of people, ideas, attitudes, and social contexts. In this particular project, she has input her design principles using natural light and ventilation, expressing compassion, wellness, and beauty.
Situated on a 5-acre land, this 100-bedded G+2 hospital is carved with large overhangs & sloping roofs as a protection against the intense monsoon. Outdoor spaces are mainly courtyards, verandahs, and balconies, which is a very usual aspect of vernacular architecture for sea-side climatic zones. The hospital is planned around three lush courtyards that provide solace and allows patient waiting, interaction and wellness. SJK named this as ‘point of pause’.
The primary circulation is created through the central courtyard connected with the main North entrance and a central staircase to its South which is completely suffused with natural lights.
The departments are spread over the eastern and western blocks, connected with adequately sized wide passages on either side, allowing a lot of waiting areas and openness to the environment. Waiting areas for all critical and non-critical zones are most often bypassed around the corridors that run along the courtyard and at times open up into the courtyard like balconies. 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 North & South courts, in a way that allows an inviting & welcoming entrance area that guides patients and family through various signages to help orient oneself & access various departments. A continuous balcony runs along the 2nd-floor North and South faces & intermittently at the 1st-floor level, these act as deep overhangs for lower floors in this intense seaside climate that receives a lot of rain and cyclonic winds. The administration, pharmacy, emergency, and out-patient departments are placed on the ground floor, followed up by the in-patient, OT, and CSSD on the 1st floor, and the ward areas such as the general ward, maternity ward, and child care unit in the top floor.
The Vernacular of the structure is noticed through the use of ordinary and locally available materials and craftsmanship. The use of a very specific and humble colour palette by keeping the cultural context in head construct a great significance to the success of this design. There exists a wall with Gond artwork, which is painted by the artisans from a tribal village in Madhya Pradesh in order to create a healing, humane habitat. The interior speaks for minimalism and the inclusiveness of the local and personal surroundings.
The design satisfies the functionality of the space with its standardized plan and controlled patient-staff flow. The climatic design features like overhangs, sloping roofs, etc., bring warmth and a humane scale to a rural hospital that is earthy & rooted. As the SJK Architect is known for their portrayal of the distinct sensibility in architecture, this rural multispeciality hospital stands for the appropriate execution of a perfectly designed hospital that facilitates ultimate accessibility, security, and comfort to the people and their health with the Shimul Javeri Kadri design charm into it.
References: | Multispeciality Hospital
- https://www.sjkarchitect.com/ruralmultispecialityhospital
- https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/know-your-architects/a7129-shimul-javeri-kadri-ideology-and-philosophy/
- https://www.womenindesign.co.in/beta/architecture-and-practice-shimul-javeri-kadri/
- https://www.futurarc.com/happening/women-in-design-2020/
