Project category: Project in progress (June 2009)

Chief administrator: Brig. Dir. Mohammad Al-Kateeb, Chief, Dept. of Planning & Information, Directorate of Royal Medical Services, 011-962-6-585-9257

Firm: Langdon Wilson International, (213) 250-1186

Design team: Asad M. Khan, Principal-in-Charge, Design Principal; Vigen Nalbandian, AIA, Project Manager; Richard Armitstead, Project Architect; Shahzad M. Khan, Project Designer (Langdon Wilson International); Consultant— Structural/MEP (Sigma Consulting Engineers)

Illustration: Standard

Total building area (sq. ft.): 330,000

Construction cost/sq. ft.: $258

Total construction cost (excluding land): $85,000,000

The Princess Haya Hospital in Aqaba, Jordan, is a 350-bed acute care hospital, centrally located in a newly created campus plan comprised of the hospital, central plant, parking structure, housing, recreational, and common facilities for staff and patients. The project is part of a regional comprehensive and economic development plan to provide new levels of healthcare for Jordanian citizens.

The main planning feature of the design is the Diagnostic and Treatment block, centrally located in the hospital plan and connected with a distinctive “spine” for major circulation of visitors and staff within the hospital. The triangular Inpatient Towers are three and five stories high, oriented so that patient rooms and wards have good views and are facing the Sea of Aqaba.

The basic exterior materials for the structure are concrete with the variation of local natural sandstone for the façade. The glass and aluminum curtainwall treatment will include both punched, recessed windows and horizontal bands of glass with fenestration details to protect the glass and interior spaces from heat. The low-E glass has a pleasing green coloration and provides significant environmental protection between sunlight, outdoor temperatures, and the hospital interior.

It is a major challenge to create a modern hospital that incorporates traditional, cultural, and environmentally sensitive elements into a cohesive architectural statement. Princess Haya Hospital has succeeded in meeting this challenge and will be very successful in terms of the medical, architectural, and other goals that have been set for the project.